Ingebrigtsen won the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championships 5000m with a devastating kick

“Of course it’s not all foie gras and fine wines. There are other pleasures, just as awesome. Maybe, maybe even more awesome.” Anthony Bourdain could have been talking about the World Athletics Ultimate Challenge if he were still with us.

Presented as a season-ending championship for the best of the best, to converge day one of the World Athletics Ultimate Championships fulfilled expectations. There are 26 Olympic champions from the 2024 Paris Games, 26 world champions from Tokyo 2025, and 25 Diamond League winners from the 2026 season.

With prize money totalling $10 million USD up for grabs over 28 disciplines, the meet is making athletes forget all about the Grand Slam Track fiasco.

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And it was Jakob Ingebrigtsen who came to play. He left with $150,000 for winning the 5000m.

Who needs pacers, wavelight technology or a fast race, when $150,000 USD is in the offing?

Norway’s greatest all-time male runner, Ingebrigtsen, laid waste to the field on the opening day of the inaugural Ultimate Championship in Budapest on Friday.

Ingebrigtsen is now officially all the way back from injury with the win in the 5000 metres in 12:59.24, just the second time in his career he has gone sub-13 minutes.

The Olympic champion is expected to race the 1500m too.

Ingebrigtsen started the 12-lap race at the back of the field. He stayed there for a few laps before gradually working his way up the field toward mid-pack. Again, he sat and waited until the final lap, when he put himself near the front but appeared to be boxed in. Coming out of the final bend, he nudged himself over to lane two, split the leaders, and dropped an enormous kick, leaving six athletes so close together that a blanket could have been thrown over them.

The 25-year-old unleashed a devastating finishing kick for victory over world champion Cole Hocker of the U.S., who finished second in 13:00.05. Finishing in third was US athlete Parker Wolfe, who finished in 13:00.13. For Hocker and Ingebrigtsen, the performances are season bests. Their personal bests are 12:48.45NR and 12:57.82, respectively.

At 9:44 into the race, Addisu Yihune was tripped and fell. He got up and began to run again, but by the time he was moving, he was off the back of the field by nearly half a lap. There was no way he was going to catch up, and he ended up dropping out.

In June this year, the 23-year-old Ethiopian raced the Oslo Diamond League meet in 12:47.62. Therefore, he was a credible threat to medal in this race.

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