World Athletics announce inaugural “Ultimate Championship” track meet

World Athletics continues to innovate the sport, refining the fan offering. The next unique event will be the 2026 World Athletics Ultimate Championship. The meet will take place in Budapest featuring mixed 4×100 metres relay where athletes will compete for their country.

The championship will be held every other year. Gold medallists will earn $150,000 from a pool of $10 million.

The meet will also feature a 4x400m relay.

In May, World Athletics unveiled plans to test new events such as a mixed 4×100 metres relay and a steeplechase mile.

The meet will take place at the Budapest National Athletics Centre in Hungary, where the 2023 World Athletics Championships happened.

“This new global event will be a game-changer for our sport and for our athletes,” said World Athletics president Sebastian Coe.

“We want to bring our fans athletics like they have never seen it before with the best of the best athletes in our sport competing head-to-head in a passion-fuelled, high-octane, festival of sport, with sound, light and innovation.”

The inaugural event is scheduled for three evenings, from Sept. 11-13. Each session will take place in under three hours, in a bid to offer a fast-paced event to captivate global television viewers.

The program will feature 26 individual events which include 16 track and 10 field and two relays.

The other events include the 100m dash, 200m and 400m sprints and 800m, 1500m, 5000m, 100/110m hurdles and 400m hurdles. The field events include the high jump, pole vault, long jump, triple jump, hammer throw, and Javelin.