Camryn Rogers, Masai Russell, Grażyna Rabsztyn, Eddy Ottoz and Christine Arron with Kate Carter and Sebastian Coe (© Getty Images)
Eddy Ottoz, Grażyna Rabsztyn, Christine Arron, Dawn Harper-Nelson, Camryn Rogers and Masai Russell added significant pieces of their sporting history to the Museum of World Athletics
Six athletes from different generations of the sport donated personal career items to the Museum of World Athletics (MOWA) during a special Heritage Lunch in Budapest, held as part of the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship.
The ceremony brought together athletes whose careers span more than six decades, with the city of Budapest itself providing a link between many of the stories being celebrated, from Eddy Ottoz’s European 110m hurdles title in the Hungarian capital in 1966 to Masai Russell’s victory in the inaugural Ultimate Championship 100m hurdles final the previous evening.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe accepted the donations on behalf of MOWA, highlighting the importance of preserving not just the items, but the stories behind the objects that athletes choose to pass on.
“The history of sport is not only about the past. It is the route to the future,” said Coe. “Heritage sits at the heart of everything we do, because it allows us to preserve the stories of those who have shaped our sport and share them with the generations who will come next.”
Among the items donated was a pair of starting blocks used by Italian hurdler Ottoz, who won the European 110m hurdles title in Budapest in 1966. Unlike modern starting blocks, the separate foot pads allowed athletes much more precise positioning and were made in Italy for Ottoz at a time when athletes were permitted to bring their own equipment on to the competition track.
The blocks offer a tangible reminder of just how much the technology of athletics has changed during a single athlete’s career. Ottoz also won the 1965 World University Games title and went on to win Olympic bronze in Mexico City in 1968.
Polish hurdling legend Grażyna Rabsztyn donated competition outfits from two defining moments of her career: her victory at the first World Cup in 1977 and the final world record of her career in 1980. Rabsztyn was a two-time World (Continental) Cup winner and set a 100m hurdles world record of 12.36 in 1980.
Grażyna Rabsztyn shows her competition kit to World Athletics President Sebastian Coe (© Getty Images)
French sprint great Christine Arron donated the spikes she wore when winning the 100m at the 1998 European Championships in Budapest. More than 28 years later, the 10.73 she ran there remains the European record.
Dawn Harper-Nelson, the Olympic 100m hurdles champion from Beijing in 2008, donated the singlet she wore when winning silver in London four years later. The long-awaited donation followed her inability to attend the MOWA ceremony in New York in 2025 due to a hurricane disrupting travel. Serving as an infield host throughout the Ultimate Championship, Harper-Nelson took time out from her event duties to finally make the donation in Budapest.
Dawn Harper-Nelson donates her USA vest to the MOWA (© Getty Images)
Two athletes from the modern era also added recent championship memorabilia to the collection. Camryn Rogers, who won her first world title in Budapest in 2023 before successfully defending it in Tokyo in 2025, donated the throwing glove she wore at the latest World Championships. Her 2025 victory came with a championship record of 80.51m.
Speaking at the ceremony, Rogers reflected on the significance of passing part of her career into the history of the sport.
“Giving such a big part of ourselves and our career and our lives over to something that will be honoured and treasured and immortalised as being part of the history of sport is just an honour,” she said. “And for me to be standing up here and representing throws, and my sport, as a hammer thrower truly is a joy.”
She also acknowledged the wider community behind elite performance, adding: “It takes an entire village of people that allows us to do the thing that we love to do so much, that is the passion of so many of our lives.”
Camryn Rogers presents her throwing glove to the MOWA (© Getty Images)
In a surprise appearance, Russell completed the ceremony the day after winning the inaugural Ultimate Championship 100m hurdles title in Budapest. Her victory came in 12.22, following her world record of 12.09 in Zurich on 27 August. Russell donated the shoes she wore during her remarkable 2026 season, adding a piece of a current champion’s career to the MOWA collection.
The new donations add to a growing collection of competition clothing, footwear, equipment, medals and personal memorabilia that preserves the stories of the athletes who have shaped the sport.
World Athletics Heritage
