The first edition is scheduled for September 11 to 13, 2026, in Budapest, Hungary, in which a total prize of 10 million dollars will be awarded (150,000 to the gold medal winners) and where world champions will compete , Olympic champions, winners of the Wanda Diamond League and those athletes with the best performance of the year, to crown the definitive champion.
According to WA, this tournament is designed as the ultimate season finale aiming to captivate millions of television viewers around the world, and will feature an exciting and fast-moving new format for athletics.
The Ultimate Championship will take place in three night sessions lasting less than three hours, showcasing the best of athletics, including sprints, medium and long distance races, relays, jumping and throwing, ensuring a spectacle that will captivate fans alike current and new ones, according to the WA press release.
Likewise, WA explains that the prize to be distributed will be “a new benchmark for financial rewards in sport, underscoring World Athletics’ commitment to paying its athletes more, providing them with additional income opportunities and increasing their recognition.”
After hosting in 2023 “arguably the most successful World Athletics Championships in history, Budapest will welcome almost 400 of the world’s best athletes for this new event in 2026.”
“With only the best of the best on display and going straight to the semi-finals and finals, it will be a must-see global sporting event and means that athletics will host a major world championship each year, ensuring for the first time that athletics enjoys a moment of maximum audience reach on an annual basis,” said Sebastian Coe, president of WA.
The World Athletics Ultimate Championship will be held every two years and will involve between eight and 16 of the world’s highest-ranked athletes per discipline, with selections based primarily on world rankings, so around 400 athletes from around 70 countries are expected. which represents the pinnacle of world athletic talent.
