Note: Single-source report; awaiting corroboration.
The inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest will bring together 381 athletes from 65 federations, competing from 11 to 13 September. Competitors include Olympic champions, world champions, Wanda Diamond League winners, and top performers in 28 disciplines scheduled over three evenings in the Hungarian capital.
The event offers a record prize pool of US$10 million, with individual event winners receiving US$150,000 each. Headline entrants include Mondo Duplantis, the Swedish pole vault world record-holder who cleared 6.31m earlier this year. He is expected to compete against Europe’s Diamond League champion Emmanouil Karalis and other top jumpers.
Other record-breaking athletes include Ja’Kobe Tharp, who set a new 110m hurdles record at 12.75 seconds in June, Masai Russell with 12.09 seconds for the women’s 100m hurdles, and Alison dos Santos, who ran 45.80 seconds in the men’s 400m hurdles in Zurich. All three currently lead the 2026 world rankings in their respective events.
Additional Olympians and world champions entered are Gabby Thomas, Marileidy Paulino, Keely Hodgkinson, Yaroslava Mahuchikh, Letsile Tebogo, Ethan Katzberg, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, Oblique Seville, and Collen Kebinatshipi. The women’s 800m is expected to be particularly competitive, featuring world leader Audrey Werro, Olympic champion Hodgkinson, and Femke Broeders-Bol. The men’s 1500m includes Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Josh Kerr, Olympic champion Cole Hocker, and world champion Isaac Nader.
The championship will also feature two mixed relay finals. The mixed 4x100m includes nine teams, led by world record-holder Jamaica, while the mixed 4x400m sees top entries from the USA. Entry lists are subject to change as of publication.