Ridgeon: Ultimate Championship can give athletics something genuinely new

Our sport comes alive in major global championship moments. That is when athletics reaches its widest audience, captures the public imagination and creates memories that can bring new fans into the sport.

I see World Athletics’ role as threefold: to govern the sport, to stage major events that showcase it at its best, and to grow it. The World Athletics Ultimate Championship delivers against the second and third of those objectives.

Every four years, the outdoor athletics calendar has neither an Olympic Games nor a World Athletics Championships. Leaving that gap unfilled felt, in some ways, like an act of self-harm – as though tennis decided to go a year without staging a Grand Slam.

We felt we were missing an opportunity, so we set out to create a major global championship that would provide a fitting climax to the 2026 season.

Launching something new is exciting, but it is also daunting. The first edition is always the hardest: there is no track record and no delivery manual to take from the shelf. We are creating this event from scratch, and that is a huge undertaking, but there is enormous excitement around it.

Crucially, we do not want the Ultimate Championship to feel like a shortened version of the World Athletics Championships. It needs its own character, style, look and atmosphere, while retaining the meaning and jeopardy of a major global championship.

Across three evenings in Budapest, there will be 28 finals and a record US$10 million prize fund. Individual track events up to and including the 800m will begin at the semifinal stage, while the 1500m, 5000m and relays will be straight finals. All field events will also be straight finals.

There are no preliminary rounds in which athletes can ease themselves into the competition. They will either begin with a semifinal or go directly into a final, so they will need to perform from the moment they enter the stadium. It will be fast-paced and unforgiving from the outset.

We are delighted to be returning to Budapest for the inaugural edition. The 2023 World Championships produced packed stands, memorable performances and an exceptional atmosphere. The athletes remember that experience, and the National Athletics Centre is a fitting venue in which to launch something new.

We are also working closely with some of the sport’s highest-profile figures. Usain Bolt is our Ultimate Legend, while Mondo Duplantis, Tara Davis-Woodhall, Noah Lyles, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and Letsile Tebogo are among the Ultimate Stars helping us shape and promote the event.

They are outstanding athletes with strong personalities and creative ideas. It is important that we listen properly to them and give them a meaningful role.

Mondo, for example, is not only preparing to compete but also composing and rehearsing the anthem for the Ultimate Championship. Athletes such as Mondo want to perform at the highest level, but they also recognise the opportunity they have to grow the sport and connect with new audiences. We have a generation of stars who have something to say and want the platform to say it.

The event has also been designed with fans in mind, both inside the stadium and watching around the world.

The infield will be transformed into a striking black competition arena, with only the active competition areas illuminated. There will be new broadcast graphics, while the mixed 4x100m relay will make its global championship debut.

The Ultimate Championship can also serve as an incubator for ideas that could eventually be introduced elsewhere in the sport, including at future World Championships or Olympic Games.

Some elements will work better than others, and we accept that. Experimentation is important. But this is not circus athletics. It is a bona fide global championship, featuring the leading athletes in the world and offering prize money that reflects the significance of the competition.

We understand that people may not fully grasp what the Ultimate Championship is until they see the first edition. That makes global reach particularly important.

More than 30 major broadcasters have already signed up to show the event live, and our focus is on making the Ultimate Championship available to as many people as possible around the world.

Our immediate priority is delivering an outstanding inaugural edition in September, but the Ultimate Championship is here to stay. We are already in discussions with potential host cities in Europe and beyond, and we expect to announce the host of the 2028 edition by the end of this year.

World Athletics is not a perfect organisation, but we are ambitious and determined to grow the sport. That means being prepared to introduce new ideas, take calculated risks and create events such as the Ultimate Championship.

When a major championship succeeds, there is nothing quite like it. It creates a special energy for the athletes, the spectators and everyone involved in delivering it. Our aim is to create that feeling again in Budapest this September – while giving the sport something genuinely new.