Coe hails faster format, richer rewards after Ultimate Championship debut

The World Athletics president also added that the governing body’s stance on banning Russian athletes from international competitions had not changed ahead of the upcoming CAS hearing.

Updated : Sep 13, 2026 17:12 IST , BUDAPEST - 3 MINS READ

World Athletics president Sebastian Coe (c) during the formal opening of the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest. | Photo Credit: AP

World Athletics president Sebastian Coe believes his sport has spent too long ‌asking spectators to wait, and he points to the new Ultimate Championship as ​evidence of how athletics can move faster to attract younger audiences.

The inaugural three-day ⁠event, set to wrap on Sunday evening in Budapest, strengthened Coe’s conviction that athletics needs to quicken its pace, with the condensed format demonstrating how the sport can better engage modern audiences.

“I’ve never understood why ‌it takes seven minutes between the heats of the women’s 200 metres,” Coe told a small group of reporters on Sunday.

“It just drives me to distraction. ‌So getting stuff more rapidly engages, I think, younger people better.”

The championship, created as ‌a ⁠season-ending showcase, compressed competition into a television-friendly format designed to keep fans engaged. ⁠Graphics highlighted rankings and winning probabilities, while lengthy pre-race introductions were condensed.

While ​the format attracted attention, Coe said some ‌of the strongest feedback concerned the event’s record $10 million prize pot. Winners collected $150,000 and prize money extended throughout the field, something Coe has long championed.

Two athlete comments crystallised why, he said.

American hurdler and World-Record holder Masai Russell told him: “It’s the most money I’ve ever earned in ‌11 seconds.”

British long jumper Jazmin Sawyers, who earned $75,000 for second place, had an ​equally powerful message. “She said, ‘It means I can stay on in the sport for another year,’” Coe said. “When I was pushing prize money, that’s exactly what I ⁠had in mind.”

A need to resolve the Russia issue

Coe added that the governing body’s position on the exclusion of ​Russian athletes had not changed ahead of an upcoming Court of Arbitration ‌for Sport (CAS) case, while acknowledging the need for a resolution.

Russian ​Athletics last month filed a fresh appeal with CAS ⁠challenging sanctions imposed by World Athletics, which has barred Russian and Belarusian athletes from international competition since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

“Our position hasn’t ‌changed, and this isn’t about politics or passports. It’s about the integrity of competition,” Coe said.

“From the age ‌of ⁠18, I believe that every position I’ve taken... it’s ⁠about integrity and it’s about competition, and that matters to me.”

Coe declined to discuss the federation’s legal strategy ahead of the arbitration proceedings but said World Athletics would ​continue to defend its stance. “So ‌our position won’t change,” he said. “And look, yes, this does need to be resolved, and I’m acutely aware of that. (But) I don’t think our legal teams would be particularly thankful if I ‌laid out our approach on this.”