Ultimate Championship: Amusan hits jackpot in Budapest

Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan has earned $75,000 (about N100m) after finishing second in the women’s 100m hurdles at the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest, Hungary.

Amusan clocked 12.34 seconds in Friday’s final to finish behind American Olympic champion Masai Russell, who won in 12.22 seconds.

Russell’s victory extended her remarkable 2026 season, having earlier broken Amusan’s world record in Zurich with a time of 12.09 seconds.

Amusan’s runner-up finish earned her the second-highest prize available in the event, with the individual winner receiving $150,000. World Athletics has put up a record $10 million prize purse for the three-day championship.

The Ultimate Championship, which runs from 11 to 13 September, is a new biennial event designed to bring together Olympic and world champions, Diamond League winners and the leading performers of the season to determine the sport’s ultimate champions.

Amusan’s road to final

Amusan qualified for the final after finishing second in her semi-final in 12.49 seconds.

The Nigerian was edged by Bahamas’ Devynne Charlton, who won the semi-final in 12.45 seconds, but Amusan did enough to secure one of the automatic qualifying places.

Russell, meanwhile, entered the final as the leading contender after winning her semi-final in 12.38 seconds.

World Athletics had identified Russell as the athlete to beat, noting that she arrived in Budapest unbeaten in 2026 after breaking the world record and winning her first Diamond League title. Amusan was listed as the second-fastest woman in the world this year at 12.23 seconds before the championship.

The final provided another meeting between two of the leading figures in the event following Russell’s record-breaking performance in Zurich and her Diamond League victory in Brussels.

Amusan had finished fourth behind Russell at the Diamond League final in Brussels shortly before arriving in Budapest.

Onojuvwevwo bows out

Earlier, Nigeria’s Ella Onojuvwevwo failed to qualify for the women’s 400m final after finishing sixth in her semi-final.

Onojuvwevwo clocked 50.50 seconds, behind Dominican Republic Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino, who won the race in 49.58 seconds, and Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser, who finished second in 49.67 seconds.

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The Nigerian had entered the competition with a personal best of 49.47 seconds.

Although she missed out on the final, Onojuvwevwo ended her season with another sub-51-second performance against a field featuring some of the world’s best quarter-milers.

The Ultimate Championship is being staged at the Budapest National Athletics Centre and features 26 individual events and two mixed relays, with around 400 athletes competing.

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Tunde Eludini is a graduate of the Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, Nigeria where he studied International Relations. He is a Senior Correspondent coordinating the sports section for PREMIUM TIMES. Twitter: @tundeyeludini