World Athletics Ultimate Championships: The race to attract a new audience

On the fast lane: 200m champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden’s 21.47s was the fourth-fastest ever run. Only world record holder Florence Griffith Joyner (21.34) and Jamaican Shericka Jackson (21.41 and 21.45) have gone faster.  | Photo Credit: AP

Athletics is arguably the most global of sports, yet the feeling that it needs to be made more palatable for a TV audience with a shorter attention span continues to linger.

World Athletics, former track and field stars, streaming platforms and sports equipment giants have all tried their hand at producing spectacles and packaging the action in a manner that grabs maximum eyeballs. Consequently, athletes are seeing the kind of money no one could have dreamt of even a decade ago.

The latest in a series of experiments to raise the sport’s profile was the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championships, held in Budapest from September 11 to 13.

The idea of having such an event as the season finale for 2026 was first made official around two months before the Paris Olympics, where another historic first took place, with every gold medallist receiving USD 50,000 in prize money from World Athletics.

“World Athletics today announced the launch of the World Athletics Ultimate Championship, a groundbreaking new global championship event set to transform the athletics calendar and define which athlete is the best of the best – pitting world champions, Olympic champions, the Diamond League winners and the year’s best performing athletes against each other, to crown the ultimate champion,” it said in an official release.

It would have taken a lot of convincing for the crème de la crème of track and field to show up at an event such as this in a year that otherwise featured neither the Summer Games nor the World Championships if it wasn’t for a huge incentive — a total prize pool of USD 10 million, the highest in track and field history.

“It’s the most money I’ve ever earned in 11 seconds,” said American hurdler and world-record holder Masai Russell after receiving USD 150,000 for winning the women’s 100m hurdles on the first day.

Usain Bolt, the sprint legend who came on board as an ambassador for the event, remarked cheekily: “I won a few championships and it still does not add up to all the cash.”

For the 61,671 spectators at the Gyula Zsivotzky National Athletics Centre in Budapest, a three-hour show was carefully crafted by the organisers every night. The majority of the events had direct finals.

Visual spectacle: A series of innovations was also introduced in the event to generate more interest. When Sri Lankan phenom Rumesh Pathirage hurled the spear to a distance of 91.09m, his yellow javelin could be spotted like never before, as apart from the competition area in use, the entire infield was black | Photo Credit:  AP & World Athletics

A series of innovations was also introduced to generate more interest. A day before the 200m semifinals, sprinters could select their preferred semifinal heat and lane live in front of media and fans, with their world ranking determining the order of the picks. For the field events, apart from the high jump and pole vault, the number of attempts for all eight finalists was reduced to two from the usual three before the first stage of elimination. The top six got one more chance, and only the four best competitors could go for a fourth and final effort, putting the onus on the athletes to give their best with every throw and jump.

When Sri Lankan phenom Rumesh Pathirage hurled the spear to a distance of 91.09m, his yellow javelin could be spotted like never before, as apart from the competition area in use, the entire infield was black.

Even the broadcast experience was enhanced with augmented graphics, including projected finishing positions and win probabilities.

Having Olympic champions Noah Lyles and Armand Duplantis as the creative minds behind the athletes’ presentation and the official event anthem was a great call as well.

Finally, only the winning athlete was honoured, with a unique trophy complemented by a personalised bracelet in recognition of the ultimate champion.

When it came to on-field performances, there were plenty of standout moments. USA’s Melissa Jefferson-Wooden (21.47s) moved to third on the all-time women’s 200m list.

Fellow American Kenny Bednarek, a two-time Olympic silver medallist, was similarly impressive, winning in 19.52sec to put him seventh on the all-time list.

Botswana’s world champion Collen Kebinatshipi (43.39s) clocked the fifth-fastest time ever in the men’s 400m. Brazil’s Alison dos Santos (45.98s) registered his second sub-46s timing in the 400m hurdles, a fortnight after breaking the world record.

Elite class: Brazil’s Alison dos Santos (45.98s; right) registered his second sub-46s timing in the 400m hurdles, a fortnight after breaking the world record.  | Photo Credit: AP

Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati stunned Marco Arop and Emmanuel Wanyonyi to clinch the men’s 800m crown. And Pathirage continued to enjoy one of the all-time great seasons in the javelin throw by crossing the 90m mark in a third different competition.

The entire programme featured only 28 events. Some disciplines, such as the 10,000m, 3,000m steeplechase, discus throw, shot put, men’s triple jump and women’s hammer throw, were completely omitted.

“I really don’t understand what your problem is, and even less so making this decision without any explanation. This isn’t track and field and it’s not good for our sport. Stop leaving us out,” was how Portugal’s Pedro Pichardo, the reigning men’s triple jump world champion, responded on social media after missing out on what could have been a career-changing night in monetary terms.

The omission wasn’t as blatant as in Michael Johnson’s effectively defunct Grand Slam Track, which ignored field events completely. But when the tournament organiser is the global governing body of the sport, such a decision is tough to digest for one of its most accomplished stars.

In its efforts to attract a younger and new audience, World Athletics has made a solid start with the Ultimate Championships. But when the next edition is held in 2028, it may have to rethink such exclusions..

Published on Sep 24, 2026

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