2026 World Athletics Ultimate Championship
International athletics championship event
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The 2026 World Athletics Ultimate Championship will be held at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest, Hungary from 11–13 September 2026. Organized by World Athletics, it is an inaugural biennial invitational that will feature top athletes in selected disciplines (including defending Olympic and world champions) competing for shares of a US$10 million purse.[1]
| 2026 World Athletics Ultimate Championship | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Dates | 11–13 September 2026 |
| Host city | Budapest, Hungary |
| Venue | National Athletics Centre (Budapest) |
| Level | Senior |
| Type | Outdoor |
| Events | 28 |
Qualification
The Ultimate Championship is a limited-field invitational, with individual track events limited to 16 entrants, and field events limited to eight entrants. Direct qualification slots are offered to:[2][3]
- The gold medalist from the 2024 Summer Olympics.
- The gold medalist from the 2025 World Athletics Championships.
- The winner of the event at the 2026 Diamond League final.
The remainder of the field in each individual event will be determined by the World Athletics Rankings for the period from 2 September 2025 to 1 September 2026. There is no limit on how many athletes from a single country can be in the field for a single event.[4][5][6]
For relay events, the 2026 World Athletics Relays served as the main qualifier, with the top six teams in its mixed 4 × 400 metres and mixed 4 × 100 metres events qualifying for the Ultimate Championship. Two more teams will qualify based on their performance during the competition period between 22 August 2025 to 1 September 2026. Only one team can qualify per-country in relays.[4][5][6]
The following athletes have automatically qualified for the Ultimate Championship based on winning a gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics or 2025 world championships, or winning the Diamond League finals:
Men's
Women's
Wildcards
Additionally, several athletes received exceptional invitations to compete at the 2026 World Athletics Ultimate Championship.[7] Among the international invitees were Josh Kerr (Great Britain) and Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Norway), who were both added to the men's 1500 metres. Their inclusion expanded the field to 13 athletes. Gianmarco Tamberi (Italy) was also granted an invitation in the men's high jump. As host nation, Hungary received exceptional invitations for Patrik Enyingi (400 m), Luca Kozák (100 m hurdles), Sára Mátó (400 m hurdles), Boglárka Takács (100 m and 200 m), as well as the Hungarian mixed 4 × 100 m and 4 × 400 m relay teams.
Schedule
| S | Semi-finals | F | Final |
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| Day One—Friday, 11 September 7 PM | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Track Events | |||||
| Event | Division Round | Men / Women / Mixed | |||
| 4 × 100 m relay | Final | mixed | |||
| 400 m | Semi-finals | men | |||
| 400 m | Semi-finals | women | |||
| 100 m hurdles | Semi-finals | women | |||
| 110 m hurdles | Semi-finals | men | |||
| 5000 m | Final | men | |||
| 800 m | Semi-finals | women | |||
| 100 m hurdles | Final | women | |||
| 110 m hurdles | Final | men | |||
| Field Events | |||||
| High jump | Final | women | |||
| Hammer throw | Final | men | |||
| Pole vault | Final | men | |||
| Long jump | Final | women | |||
| Day Two—Saturday, 12 September 6 PM | |||||
| Track Events | |||||
| 400 m | Final | women | |||
| 400 m | Final | men | |||
| 800 m | Semi-finals | men | |||
| 400 m hurdles | Semi-finals | women | |||
| 100 m | Semi-finals | women | |||
| 100 m | Semi-finals | men | |||
| 1500 m | Final | women | |||
| 400 m hurdles | Semi-finals | men | |||
| 800 m | Final | women | |||
| 100 m | Final | women | |||
| 100 m | Final | men | |||
| Field Events | |||||
| Javelin throw | Final | women | |||
| Pole vault | Final | women | |||
| Long jump | Final | men | |||
| Day Three-Sunday, 13 September 6 PM | |||||
| Track Events | |||||
| 400 m hurdles | Final | women | |||
| 200 m | Semi-finals | men | |||
| 400 m hurdles | Final | men | |||
| 200 m | Semi-finals | women | |||
| 5000 m | Final | women | |||
| 800 m | Final | men | |||
| 4 × 400 m relay | Final | mixed | |||
| 1500 m | Final | men | |||
| 200 m | Final | men | |||
| 200 m | Final | women | |||
| Field Events | |||||
| Javelin throw | Final | men | |||
| High jump | Final | men | |||
| Triple jump | Final | women | |||
Medal table
* Host nation (Hungary)
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  United States (USA) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
| 2 |  Norway (NOR) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 |  Ukraine (UKR) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 |  Botswana (BOT) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
 Dominican Republic (DOM) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
 Germany (GER) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
 Italy (ITA) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
 Sweden (SWE) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 9 |  Australia (AUS) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
 Great Britain (GBR) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
 Jamaica (JAM) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 12 |  Greece (GRE) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 Hungary (HUN)* | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
 Nigeria (NGR) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 15 |  Netherlands (NED) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Serbia (SRB) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 Trinidad and Tobago (TTO) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (17 entries) | 10 | 10 | 11 | 31 | |
Medal summary
Men
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 metres |
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| 200 metres |
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| 400 metres |
Collen Kebinatshipi Botswana | 43.39 NR | Rai Benjamin United States | 44.15 | Jereem Richards Trinidad and Tobago | 44.23 |
| 800 metres |
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| 1500 metres |
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| 5000 metres |
Jakob Ingebrigtsen Norway | 12:59.24 SB | Cole Hocker United States | 13:00.05 SB | Parker Wolfe United States | 13:00.13 |
| 110 metres hurdles |
Ja'Kobe Tharp United States | 12.94 | Cordell Tinch United States | 12.95 | Bradley Franklin United States | 13.01 |
| 400 metres hurdles |
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| High jump |
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| Pole vault |
Armand Duplantis Sweden | 6.20 m | Emmanouil Karalis Greece | 6.15 m | Sondre Guttormsen Norway | 5.95 m |
| Long jump |
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| Hammer throw |
Merlin Hummel Germany | 81.46 m | Bence Halász Hungary | 80.30 m | Mykhaylo Kokhan Ukraine | 78.90 m |
| Javelin throw |
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Women
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 metres |
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| 200 metres |
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| 400 metres |
Marileidy Paulino Dominican Republic | 49.07 | Henriette Jæger Norway | 49.28 | Nickisha Pryce Jamaica | 49.56 |
| 800 metres |
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| 1500 metres |
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| 5000 metres |
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| 100 metres hurdles |
Masai Russell United States | 12.22 | Tobi Amusan Nigeria | 12.34 | Nadine Visser Netherlands | 12.39 |
| 400 metres hurdles |
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| High jump |
Yaroslava Mahuchikh Ukraine | 1.99 m | Nicola Olyslagers Australia | 1.95 m | Eleanor Patterson Australia Angelina Topić Serbia | 1.91 m |
| Pole vault |
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| Long jump |
Larissa Iapichino Italy | 6.90 m | Jazmin Sawyers Great Britain | 6.78 m | Alyssa Jones United States | 6.77 m |
| Triple jump |
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| Javelin throw |
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Mixed
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 × 100 metres relay |
United States Ronnie Baker Anavia Battle Courtney Lindsey Kayla White | 39.64 | Jamaica Ackeem Blake Tina Clayton Kadrian Goldson Jonielle Smith | 39.72 | Great Britain Romell Glave Imani Lansiquot Jeremiah Azu Success Eduan | 40.26 |
| 4 × 400 metres relay |
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Participating nations
381 athletes from 65 federations are entered into the championships.[9][10]
| Participating Federations |
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