The inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship opens tomorrow in Budapest, where many of track and field’s brightest stars — including several Canadians — will vie for big cash prizes over three days of competition.
Here’s a quick primer.
What it is
The Ultimate Championship was created by World Athletics (track and field’s global governing body) to bring together the sport’s best athletes for a made-for-TV international meet in a year that does not include an outdoor world championships. The worlds are held every two years, with the next one taking place in September 2027 in Beijing setting the stage for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
The plan is to hold the next Ultimate Championship shortly after L.A., giving track and field a chance to build on the momentum it always generates (and then usually loses) every Olympics.
To attract the top athletes to Budapest, World Athletics put an eye-catching $10 million US in prize money up for grabs, including $150,000 for the winner of each individual event. That’s quite a bump from last week’s Diamond League Final, where the winners pocketed either $30,000 or $60,000, depending on the profile of their event. At the 2024 Olympics, World Athletics awarded gold medallists a $50,000 bonus. At last year’s world championships, they got $70K.
Canadian sprinters Andre De Grasse and Aaron Brown discuss competing in the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship, which begins on Friday.
How it works
There are 26 individual events on the program — 13 men’s, 13 women’s — plus a pair of relays: the mixed 4x100m and the mixed 4x400m. Several events that are part of the Olympics and world championships were dropped in order to fit the Ultimate Championship into a TV-friendlier three-day window with just a single three-hour session each day.
For the solo events that made the cut, all reigning Olympic, world and Diamond League champions were invited. A season-long qualifying system determined most of the other entries, while World Athletics granted exemptions to a few stars and some athletes from the host country of Hungary.
Each event features significantly fewer athletes (and fewer rounds) than we typically see at the Olympics or the world championships. On the track, the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 100m/110m hurdles and 400m hurdles events begin with a pair of eight-personal semifinal heats, with the top four in each advancing to the final. The 1,500m, 5000m and both relay races have no qualifying stage at all — just a straight final. Same for all the field events.
Canadians to watch
Unfortunately for Canada, the list of Olympic and world-championship events that were dropped for the Ultimate Championship includes the women’s hammer throw, where Camryn Rogers is the reigning Olympic and world champ; the shot put, where Sarah Mitton has won two women’s indoor world titles and a silver at the 2023 outdoor worlds; and the men’s 4x100m relay, where Andre De Grasse’s team won gold at the 2024 Olympics.
But Canada still earned eight entries, headlined by reigning Olympic and world champion Ethan Katzberg in the men’s hammer throw, former world champ and 2024 Olympic silver medallist Marco Arop in the men’s 800m, and Olympic-champion 4x100m teammates De Grasse and Aaron Brown in the men’s 200m.
Young 400m sprinter Christopher Morales Williams, who captured the indoor world title earlier this year, also scored an invite. Audrey Leduc and Canadian record holder Sade McCreath will compete in the women’s 100m and are both part of the pool for the mixed 4x100m relay, which also includes Marie-Éloïse Leclair, Eliezer Adjibi, Duan Asemota and Olympic men’s 4x100m gold medallist Brendon Rodney.
Jamaica’s Usain Bolt discusses the inaugural Ultimate Championship, where many of track and field’s brightest stars will vie for big cash prizes over three days of competition.
International athletes to watch
The big names set to compete in Budapest include Olympic women’s 100m champion Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia, Olympic women’s 200m champ Gabby Thomas of the United States, and American Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, who won the 100 and the 200 at last year’s worlds and will line up in both events here. Fellow U.S. star Sha’Carri Richardson is also in the women’s 100m mix, while the 800m is shaping up as a three-way duel between Swiss world leader Audrey Werro, Olympic champ Keely Hodgkinson of Britain and Dutch star Femke Broeders-Bol.
On the men’s side, there’s 100m world champion Oblique Seville of Jamaica, Olympic 200m champ Letsile Tebogo of Botswana, back-to-back Olympic 200m silver medallist Kenny Bednarek of the U.S., and Swedish pole vault sensation Mondo Duplantis. Arop will have his hands full in the men’s 800m against Olympic, world and Diamond League champ Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya. And the men’s 1,500m looks like a banger with Norwegian star Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Olympic gold medallist Cole Hocker of the U.S. and mile world-record breaker Josh Kerr of Great Britain set to renew their extremely heated rivalry.
However, there are a few glaring absences due to injury, including Kenyan 1,500m marvel Faith Kipyegon and American sprinter Noah Lyles, who is the biggest star in the sport. The reigning Olympic 100m and world 200m champ’s presence will still be felt in Budapest though as he’s on hand as a “creative adviser” to drum up interest, walk the red carpet and do other influencer-type stuff.
How to watch
You can catch all three days of the Ultimate Championship live on CBC Gem and the CBC TV network. Coverage begins Friday from 1-4 p.m. ET and continues on Saturday and Sunday from noon-3 p.m. ET. Here’s the official schedule with startlists and results.
Here’s more on the Ultimate Championship and here’s a preview on the latest episode of CBC Sports’ Trackside, featuring guests Andre De Grasse and Donovan Bailey.
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