Noah Lyles and Oblique Seville will be among those vying for 100m glory in Budapest.
The World Athletics Ultimate Championship features three nights of finals showcasing the greatest athletes on the planet in their quest to be crowned the champion of champions.
In a new four-part series, we look at some of the key battles brewing ahead of the global gathering in Budapest on 11-13 September. First up, it’s the men’s track.
100m
Competition will be fierce in the fight to become the sprint king in Budapest. As ever, there’s no shortage of contenders for the US$150,000 top prize in an event that often brings the biggest pre-championship buzz.
Oblique Seville won world gold in Tokyo in 9.77 and, last year, was only bettered in pace terms by his Jamaican compatriot Kishane Thompson (9.75), who had to make do with the silver medal.
Third was USA’s Noah Lyles, the Olympic champion whose early part to the season was hampered by injury. So far in 2026 that hasn’t been the case, and, like Thompson, he tested himself over 60m indoors, the pair clocking bests of 6.46 and 6.51, respectively.
Further afield, excitement is building over the future of Australian Gout Gout, who only turned 18 at the end of last year and has already run 10 seconds flat this year. Talking of newcomers, the new world indoor champion Jordan Anthony will also be looking to transfer that speed outdoors.
400m
Botswana’s Collen Kebinatshipi is not a man lacking in confidence. After winning the world title in a thrilling final in Japan, he immediately shifted his sights to Wayde van Niekerk’s world record of 43.03.
The 22-year-old would dearly love to shatter that with the world watching the September showcase. The double world champion – he also sealed gold in the 4x400m – still has half a second to claw back and he would also have some of the best one-lap runners in the world trying to hunt him down.
Breathing down his neck between now and the Ultimate Championship will be Trinidad and Tobago’s Jereem Richards, who was two tenths of a second behind him in the world final, as well as his Botswana compatriot Bayapo Ndori, who came away with the bronze.
The US contingent has promised to hit back with a vengeance come the Budapest clash, while Britain’s Matt Hudson-Smith and South African Zakithi Nene, the world’s fastest man prior to Tokyo, should again be among the forces to be reckoned with.
400m hurdles
We’re in the golden age for the men’s 400m hurdles. Fans will be eager to find out if world record-holder Karsten Warholm can bounce back to clinch the title. The rebuild is on early in 2026 for the Lego obsessive after the fastest man in the world last year could only finish fifth in the World Championships final.
And what a final it ended up being, with USA’s Rai Benjamin winning gold in a season’s best. But it was not without drama. Declared the winner, he was then disqualified before being reinstated moments later.
He and Warholm should be duelling again for yet another season but there are no shortage of suitors lining up to catch them along the banks the Danube, notably Brazilian Alison dos Santos, Abderrahman Samba of Qatar and Nigeria’s Ezekiel Nathaniel.
