Ultimate Championship to redefine athletics with record prize fund and fan-first format

Athletics is getting a shake-up. The World Athletics Ultimate Championship promises to fuse sport, spectacle, and serious money – with a record-breaking $10million prize fund and a fast-paced, fan-first format designed to keep the world’s best athletes in the spotlight year-round.

“The athletes are in the spotlight during the Olympics, and then it seems like they disappear. That is not true. They are present all the time, and our job is to make them visible,” said US entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian, one of the special guests at the one-year-to-go celebration for the World Athletics Ultimate Championship, held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. The event will take place in Budapest from 11–13 September 2026.

Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit and a leading investor in women’s sport, has been expanding his portfolio into athletics. In 2024, he financed Athlos, a women-only track-and-field meeting in New York that drew major attention. “High prizes motivate athletes and attract people’s attention,” he said – a philosophy that aligns closely with the new championship’s ambitions.

Reaching new audiences

The Ultimate Championship will boast the largest prize fund in athletics history. “We have a $10million prize pot where every athlete who competes goes home with something,” explained World Athletics President Sebastian Coe. “These are the things that really keep me up at night. I want to get all those in place, and so I wake up hungry.

“During a four-year cycle, we want a large global audience every year. There is one year when we do not have that event, and the Ultimate Championship is set to address that issue.”

The two-time Olympic gold medallist said the format was shaped by extensive research. “A lot of what we are doing is data-driven,” he noted. “It is about understanding our audiences. It is about unlocking new fans, but at the same time, not letting our traditional fans disappear because they do not think there is anything in it for them.”

After testing and consultation, World Athletics opted for a compact three-day programme – 28 disciplines delivered in a fast-paced, made-for-television format. “It is three evenings of three hours each: a straightforward final for the field events and a semi-final and a final for the track events,” said Coe. “It is important that our fans get the opportunity to see the best of the best.”

Vision backed by legends

Several celebrated names from athletics history – including Ultimate legend Usain Bolt – attended the celebrations in Tokyo and expressed strong enthusiasm for the new championships.

“I loved the idea from the very start,” said two-time world 110m hurdles champion Colin Jackson. “I like the purity of it: we understand head-to-heads, there is nothing complicated, nothing you need to worry too much about. You can sit there, watch, and go through the whole process.”

He believes the new competition format will motivate athletes to prove who is truly the best in their event – the Olympic champion, the world champion, or the Diamond League winner.

“For example, Joe Kovacs was dominant in the shot put in 2025,” said Jackson. “He won the Diamond League Final but did not qualify for the World Championships as he placed fourth at the US Trials. The Ultimate Championship would give him an ideal stage to demonstrate: ‘I am not a world champion, but guess what? There is no doubt I am the very best.’ And those are the types of things that I love.”

Jackson, now a commentator and television presenter for the BBC, said he looks forward to the competition, which will take place at the end of the 2026 season. “You have had your whole season, and then you have a little break to prepare for the final competition,” he said.

High-stakes season finale

End-of-season events in the past – such as the World Athletics Final and the Continental Cup – may no longer appear on the calendar, but World Athletics CEO Jon Ridgeon is confident the Ultimate Championship will stand the test of time.

“There was very little at stake (with the previous competitions), and the fans knew that,” he said. “This event is about reigning Olympic champions and reigning world champions competing against each other. The stakes are high. All the athletes will be there, so it will be a much more entertaining and meaningful event than anything we have done towards the end of the season before.”

Ridgeon also noted that the Ultimate Championship isn’t the only initiative aimed at improving the financial situation of athletes. “In the last Olympic cycle, we paid US$25 million in prize money,” he explained. “In the current cycle, between 2024 and 2028, we have doubled this amount.

“We are working to develop the sport at grassroots level, but we also want to ensure that professional athletes can earn a sustainable living from the sport,” he added. “We have to be mindful that our most talented athletes are in demand in other sports, so we need to make sure they stay in athletics and can make a viable professional living. They deserve to.”

Lucijan Zalokar for World Athletics
Produced as part of the World Athletics Media Academy project