Duplantis leads creme de la creme at 'game-changing' Ultimate Championship

By the Editorial Team · Friday, September 11, 2026

Armand "Mondo" Duplantis will lead the inaugural Ultimate Championship, a new three-night track and field event in Budapest featuring 381 top athletes competing for a $10 million prize pool. Created to fill the gap in 2026 when no World Championships or Olympics occur, the event aims to provide a compelling season finale and increase global fan engagement with a TV-focused format.

Armand "Mondo" Duplantis is set to headline the inaugural Ultimate Championship, a new track and field event that brings together the world’s top athletes for a high-stakes competition in Budapest. The event is scheduled to take place over three nights starting Friday at the Zsivotzky Gyula Nemzeti Atletikai Kozpont stadium, the venue that hosted the 2023 World Championships.

The championship will feature approximately 381 athletes representing 65 federations, competing for a record total prize fund of $10 million. Participants include automatic qualifiers such as 26 Olympic champions from the 2024 Paris Games, 26 world champions from the 2023 Tokyo World Championships, and 25 Diamond League winners from the 2026 season. Additional athletes earned their spots based on world rankings and seasonal performance, with no national quotas imposed, ensuring the competition fields the top performers worldwide.

World Athletics president Sebastian Coe described the event as a new global championship designed to provide a meaningful season finale in athletics. He emphasized that the Ultimate Championship was created to fill a gap in 2026, a year without either a World Championships or Olympic Games. Coe highlighted the event’s aim to maximize global broadcast audiences and engage media and fans through a format tailored specifically for television.

Competition formats vary across disciplines. Sprint events including the 100m, 200m, and 400m, as well as the 800m, 100m hurdles/110m hurdles, and 400m hurdles, will feature two semifinal heats of eight athletes each. The top four finishers from each semifinal will advance to the finals. In contrast, longer-distance races such as the 1,500m and 5,000m, along with relay events and all field competitions, will be contested as straight finals without preliminary rounds.

The introduction of the Ultimate Championship marks a significant development in the athletics calendar, positioning itself as a major global event with the potential to reshape how track and field seasons conclude by spotlighting elite performances and offering substantial financial incentives.

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