<p>The World Athletics Ultimate Championship is the first of its kind with the best of the best converging on Budapest for three nights of competition. Here are five things you need to know about the inaugural event.</p>
<h3>First of its kind</h3>
<p>The biennial event consists of 13 individual events each for men and women &ndash; eight on the track and five in the field &ndash; as well as two relay events. Olympic champions from Paris 2024 as well as those crowned world champions in Tokyo last year and this year's Diamond League winners automatically qualify for the event. Athletes can also qualify by world rankings position, while some athletes may receive exceptional invitations.</p>
<h3>Richest-ever event</h3>
<p>It is the richest prize pot ever in the history of the sport with $10 million up for grabs for the athletes competing. Each individual event winner will pocket $150,000 with the runner-up earning $75,000 and the third-place finisher getting a $40,000 payday. In the relay events, the victorious team will share out a pot of $80,000. It is a further step-up in putting athletes first after World Athletics became the first international federation to award prize money at an Olympic Games with $50,000 paid to each gold medallist in Paris two years ago from a total prize purse of $2.4m.</p>
<h3>No medals</h3>
<p>Athletes have grown accustomed to having medals draped over their necks after finishing on the podium at a major championships in athletics. That won&rsquo;t be the case in Budapest so don&rsquo;t expect the customary gold, silver and bronze at the end of each event. Instead, every athlete invited to compete will receive a unique participation token. Then the individual winners will receive a specially designed trophy into which the token can slot. Details of both the token and the trophy will follow closer to the event.</p>
<h3>New event for the Ultimate</h3>
<p>The mixed 4x100m will make its global senior track and field championship debut following its inclusion at the World Relays earlier this year, with each quartet competing in national kits. Six teams automatically qualified for Budapest after reaching the final of the event at the World Relays. Those teams are Canada, Germany, Jamaica, Nigeria, Spain and the United States. The relays are the only event where there is a country quota &ndash; just one quartet from each nation can compete. In the individual events, there are no such rules unlike at usual global championships.</p>
<h3>Ultimate Stars</h3>
<p>The world&rsquo;s fastest ever man, Usain Bolt, has been appointed the Ultimate Legend, while Mondo Duplantis is an Ultimate Star and created the event&rsquo;s anthem as part of his role. Other Ultimate Stars include Tara Davis-Woodhall, who also doubles up as the lead content creator as well Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and Letsile Tebogo, who will be team captains for the Kids&rsquo; Athletics Ultimate Challenge.</p>

World Athletics Ultimate Championship

The World Athletics Ultimate Championship is the first of its kind with the best of the best converging on Budapest for three nights of competition. Here are five things you need to know about the inaugural event.

Five things to know about the World Athletics Ultimate Championship

<p>Botswana's Collen Kebinatshipi brought the curtain down on the first night of the <strong>Wanda Diamond League Final </strong>in Brussels on Friday (4) with another dominant win in the 400m.</p>
<p>The 22-year-old broke the Diamond League record for the third time this season, his winning time of 43.40 eclipsing his previous records set in Paris and Monaco and moving him to joint fifth on the world all-time list. Trinidad and Tobago's Jereem Richards was second in 43.68, improving his own national record that had been set when securing world silver behind Kebinatshipi in Tokyo last year.</p>
<p>Another Diamond League record was set in the shot put. Chase Jackson had only just joined the 21-metre club a few days earlier with a North American record of 21.02m in Berlin but she made light work of that mark as she set another lifetime best to dominate the competition.</p>
<p>Jackson, one of only two women in 14 years to surpass the 21-metre mark, extended her area record to 21.14m to win by half a metre from Canada&rsquo;s Sarah Mitton, with former world leader Jessica Schilder, who threw 21.09m in May, placing third.</p>
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6a9b287dc34fbf16ecfd1164.JPG" alt="Chase Jackson in action in Brussels" />
<p style="font-size: 0.9em; color: #b2b2b2; text-align: right; margin: -15px 0 0px;">Chase Jackson in action in Brussels (&copy; World Athletics <img style="width: 16px; vertical-align: middle; display: inline;" src="data:image/svg+xml;base64,CiAgICA8c3ZnIHhtbG5zPSJodHRwOi8vd3d3LnczLm9yZy8yMDAwL3N2ZyIgd2lkdGg9IjE2IiBoZWlnaHQ9IjE2IiB2aWV3Qm94PSIwIDAgNDgwIDM2MCI+CiAgICAgIDxnIHRyYW5zZm9ybT0idHJhbnNsYXRlKDAsMzYwKSBzY2FsZSgwLjEsLTAuMSkiIGZpbGw9IiNCMkIyQjIiPgogICAgICAgIDxwYXRoIGQ9Ik0xOTA1IDMxODIgYy0xMjYgLTQ0IC0xODcgLTEwMCAtMjUzIC0yMzMgbC00NyAtOTQgLTM1MCAtNSBjLTMyNiAtNQogICAgICAgIC0zNTQgLTYgLTQwMSAtMjYgLTE0NyAtNjAgLTI0NiAtMTgwIC0yNzQgLTMzMSAtMTQgLTc2IC0xNCAtMTY1OSAwIC0xNzM0IDMxCiAgICAgICAgLTE2NyAxNzMgLTMxMyAzMzggLTM0OCAzNyAtOCA0NzYgLTExIDE0OTAgLTExIDE1NDMgMCAxNDgwIC0yIDE1ODggNTAgMTA0IDUxCiAgICAgICAgMjAwIDE4MSAyMjQgMzA1IDggNDMgMTAgMzAwIDggOTEwIGwtMyA4NTAgLTIzIDU2IGMtNDcgMTEyIC0xNDEgMjA2IC0yNTIgMjUyCiAgICAgICAgLTUyIDIxIC03MiAyMiAtNDA1IDI3IGwtMzUwIDUgLTQ2IDk1IGMtNTQgMTEyIC0xMDYgMTY2IC0yMDcgMjEzIGwtNjcgMzIKICAgICAgICAtNDYwIDIgYy00MTYgMyAtNDY1IDEgLTUxMCAtMTV6IG05NzIgLTIzNyBjMTggLTEzIDUyIC02OCA5MyAtMTUwIDQyIC04MyA3NQogICAgICAgIC0xMzcgOTMgLTE1MCAyNyAtMTkgNDcgLTIwIDQxNSAtMjUgNDM4IC02IDQyNyAtNCA0ODcgLTg5IGwzMCAtNDMgMyAtODM2IGMyCiAgICAgICAgLTYxMCAwIC04NDggLTggLTg3NiAtMTcgLTU2IC01NCAtMTAyIC0xMDQgLTEyNSAtNDIgLTIxIC01MSAtMjEgLTE0ODggLTIxCiAgICAgICAgbC0xNDQ1IDAgLTQ0IDIzIGMtMjkgMTYgLTU0IDQwIC03NCA3MiBsLTMwIDQ4IDAgODUxIGMwIDg0NCAwIDg1MSAyMSA4OTEgMTEKICAgICAgICAyMiA0MCA1NCA2MyA3MCBsNDMgMzAgMzg4IDUgYzM2OSA1IDM5MCA2IDQxNyAyNSAxOCAxMyA1MCA2NCA4OCAxNDEgMzMgNjcgNjcKICAgICAgICAxMjkgNzUgMTM5IDM2IDQzIDUzIDQ1IDUxMiA0MiA0MjIgLTIgNDM4IC0zIDQ2NSAtMjJ6Ii8+CiAgICAgICAgPHBhdGggZD0iTTIzMDAgMjQ1MSBjLTM4MiAtNTQgLTY3MSAtMzYzIC02OTcgLTc0NiAtMjEgLTMxOCAxNjEgLTYyNyA0NTIKICAgICAgICAtNzY2IDEyNiAtNjAgMTg5IC03NCAzNTAgLTc0IDExOSAwIDE1MSA0IDIxNSAyMyAyNzYgODcgNDgwIDI5NiA1NTYgNTcyIDI1CiAgICAgICAgOTAgMjYgMjk5IDEgMzkwIC03OCAyODggLTMwMCA1MDkgLTU4OSA1ODQgLTcxIDE4IC0yMTYgMjcgLTI4OCAxN3ogbTI3MCAtMjQ5CiAgICAgICAgYzE5NyAtNjggMzM0IC0yMTQgMzg1IC00MDcgNzQgLTI4NyAtMTA0IC01OTkgLTM5MCAtNjg0IC0xMDEgLTMwIC0yNjcgLTI3CiAgICAgICAgLTM2MCA3IC0xNzQgNjQgLTMyNyAyNDAgLTM2NCA0MjAgLTYyIDMwNSAxMzUgNjA4IDQzOSA2NzcgODIgMTkgMjE1IDEyIDI5MAogICAgICAgIC0xM3oiLz4KICAgICAgPC9nPgogICAgPC9zdmc+CiAgICA=" alt="photographer icon" /> Christel Saneh)</p>
<h2>Alfred and Karalis impress</h2>
<p>As world champion, Kebinatshipi's spot had long ago been sealed for the end-of-season World Athletics Ultimate Championship next week. But it was a night when many others booked places in Budapest.</p>
<p>Among them was Julien Alfred who continued her unbeaten streak in the 200m. The only woman under 22 seconds in the race, she ran 21.79 (0.1m/s) to clinch her third Diamond League title in three years and her first in the 200m. As the Olympic 100m champion, Alfred had already automatically qualified for the shorter sprint at the Ultimate Championship but now, as the Diamond League champion, she has a place in the 200m too, should she choose to accept it.</p>
<p>Emmanouil Karalis paid tribute to the number of vocal Greek fans inside the King Baudouin Stadium in the Belgian capital as he produced a meeting record clearance of 6.12m to win the pole vault.</p>
<p>There was an early evening disappointment when his great rival Mondo Duplantis pulled out as a precaution just moments before the night&rsquo;s action commenced, telling the crowd at the Allianz Memorial Van Damme that he had failed to shake off some tightness in his leg.</p>
<p>In his absence, his closest challenger in 2026, Karalis, dominated the competition. His 5.92m was enough to beat the rest of the field and then he sailed cleared at 6.12m on his third attempt to add a centimetre to a meeting record held by Duplantis. Sondre Guttormsen finished second and Kurtis Marschall third.</p>
<p>One of the rising stars of middle-distance running, Cameron Myers, timed his sprint to the line to win the 1500m by four hundredths of a second ahead of of Phanuel Koech, a year younger than Myers at 19. Ethan Strand was third. Jakob Ingebrigtsen led out the field until the home straight when he was swallowed by the chasing pack to finish in fifth place.</p>
<h2>Wanyonyi wins fourth Diamond League title</h2>
<p>Emmanuel Wanyonyi was just 0.04 off his season&rsquo;s best set in Zurich last week as he turned the 800m into a race against the clock once again for his fourth consecutive Diamond League title, won in 1:41.80.</p>
<p>It only seems a matter of time before the Kenyan breaks the world record set by his compatriot David Rudisha back at the London 2012 Olympics. Wanyonyi&rsquo;s closest challenger, Djamel Sedjati of Algeria, was nearly a second back while France&rsquo;s Yanis Meziane smashed his personal best with 1:42.87 for third.</p>
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6a9b3835f96b272cbf1ab29c.JPG" alt="Emmanuel Wanyonyi in Brussels" />
<p style="font-size: 0.9em; color: #b2b2b2; text-align: right; margin: -15px 0 0px;">Emmanuel Wanyonyi in Brussels (&copy; World Athletics <img style="width: 16px; vertical-align: middle; display: inline;" src="data:image/svg+xml;base64,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" alt="photographer icon" /> Christel Saneh)</p>
<p>There was a US one-two-three in the 110m hurdles as world record-holder Ja&rsquo;Kobe Tharp took the win. The 20-year-old had a relatively slow start but kept his cool to cross the line first in 13.03. Jamal Britt took second ahead of Trey Cunningham as world champion Cordell Tinch slapped his leg in frustration after he clattered the final hurdle and fell to the floor in a dramatic finale.</p>
<p>World champion Oblique Seville eclipsed many of the world&rsquo;s best sprinters to win the 100m in 9.90 (0.1m/s). Christian Coleman got off to a great start but couldn&rsquo;t maintain that speed as he was swallowed up by the rest of the field to finish sixth. Instead, Seville&rsquo;s closest challenger was Emmanuel Eseme, who was 0.03 behind the Jamaican, with Kayinsola Ajayi third.</p>
<p>USA's Anna Cockrell was the first Diamond League winner of the night, the world leader setting off quickly and rapidly catching Emma Zapletalov&aacute; in the 400m hurdles &ndash; 53.01 to 53.10. Zapletalov&aacute;, a five-time Diamond League race winner in 2026, valiantly clawed back much of the deficit but it was not sufficient to get past as Paulien Couckuyt set a Belgian record to round off the top three.</p>
<p>As she had been in Zurich, Faith Cherotich was again a class apart in the 3000m steeplechase, pulling clear in the home straight ahead of fellow Kenyan Doris Lemngole and Winfred Yavi of Bahrain for a meeting record of 8:51.61.</p>
<p>And in the women&rsquo;s 5000m, Freweyni Hailu produced an electric late burst to lead home an Ethiopian one-two-three in 14:35.20 ahead of Likina Amebaw and Senayet Getachew.</p>
<h2>Gayle turns tables on Tentoglou</h2>
<p>There was a switch of the one-two from Zurich as Tajay Gayle got the better of Miltiadis Tentoglou in the men&rsquo;s long jump. Jamaican Gayle left it until the final round, though, for a winning leap of 8.46m, six centimetres farther than Tentoglou with Simon Ehammer third.</p>
<p>The unheralded Mateusz Kołodziejski and JuVaughn Harrison both cleared 2.28m but the Pole won the men&rsquo;s high jump on countback with Oleh Doroshchuk and Gianmarco Tamberi sharing third after their clearances of 2.25m.</p>
<p>In the women&rsquo;s triple jump, none of the field managed to reach the 15-metre mark but Senegal&rsquo;s Saly Sarr took the win, her best of 14.96m beating Leyanis P&eacute;rez Hern&aacute;ndez, the Diamond League champion for the past two years, into second with her fellow Cuban Davisleydi Velazco third.</p>
<p>China's 2022 world champion Feng Bin took discus&nbsp;victory with her round-four throw of 67.46m. Two-time Olympic champion Valarie Sion was the favourite to dominate but was some way off her best of 2026, waiting until her final throw for her best of the night &ndash; 66.92m &ndash; to finish second.</p>
<p>In the men&rsquo;s event Kristjan Ceh produced a meeting record of 71.29m to beat world record-holder Mykolas Alekna who also surpassed the 70-metre mark. Roje Stona was third.</p>
<p><strong>Matt Majendie for World Athletics</strong></p>
</div>
</div>

Collen Kebinatship and Chase Jackson set Diamond League records on night one at the Memorial Van Damme.

Kebinatshipi brings curtain down on first night of Diamond League Final

<p>Increased underlying revenues, excluding the Olympic Dividend, and a continued focus on financial management allowed World Athletics to boost investment in athletes, grants and development and innovation while maintaining a strong cash position in 2025, according to the organisation&rsquo;s Annual Report and Accounts published today (4).<br /><br /></p>
<p><span style="text-align: center; border-radius: 5px; border: 2px solid #fe8a4c; font-size: 1.3em; padding: 8px;"><a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/about-iaaf/documents/strategic-plans-and-reports#collapseannual-reports" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>World Athletics 2025 Annual Report and Accounts</strong></a></span></p>
<p><em>Reports available in English and French</em></p>
<p><br />Like-for-like revenue, excluding the Olympic Dividend, which is received once every four years, rose 15% to US$69.2m, while expenditure remained relatively flat at US$79.4m despite increased investment across the sport. When the Olympic Dividend is taken into consideration, World Athletics is running a balanced budget over the four-year cycle.</p>
<p>Investment in Area Association and Member Federation grants for competition and development rose 12% to US$13.4m, while World Athletics maintained a strong cash position of US$37.3m halfway through the 2024-2027 financial cycle.</p>
<p>Broadcast and commercial rights, including profit share, contributed the bulk of World Athletics&rsquo; revenue during the year. A new ticket marketing strategy implemented for the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 also generated just over US$3m for World Athletics and is being further developed to create additional revenue opportunities for both future World Athletics Series hosts and the organisation.</p>
<p>The investment came during a year of significant competition growth and innovation. A total of 9067 competitions were registered around the world in 2025, up from 7791 in 2024, while the number of Continental Tour meetings increased from 247 to 262, creating more opportunities for athletes to compete locally and earn world ranking points.</p>
<p>Three World Athletics Series events were held during the year &ndash; the World Athletics Indoor Championships Nanjing 25, World Athletics Relays Guangzhou 25 and World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 &ndash; with a combined economic impact of more than US$586m.</p>
<p>Tokyo highlighted the global reach of the sport, with athletes from 84 countries making a final or achieving a top-eight finish &ndash; the highest number ever at a World Athletics Championships.</p>
<p>Investment continued in fan research, data and analytics, digital products and enhanced sport presentation, alongside support for Member Federations through the Grant for Growth programme. Of 189 eligible Member Federations, 170 had an approved Grant for Growth project for the 2025-2026 period, with US$3.4m distributed &ndash; an increase of 17% on 2024. In addition, between 2024-2028, over US$50million will be distributed in prize money to our athletes.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Innovation was also reflected on the field of play. The mixed 4x100m relay made its debut at the World Athletics Relays Guangzhou 25, the 300m hurdles was officially added to the Competition Rules, and World Athletics launched plans for the RUN X&trade; World Treadmill Championship in partnership with Technogym.</p>
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6a9acb11993bfcec1f0bbae7.jpg" alt="2025 in numbers" />
<p>One of the most significant developments during 2025 was the continued preparation for the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship, which will take place in Budapest from 11-13 September 2026.</p>
<p>The new three-day championship brings together the world&rsquo;s best athletes in 28 disciplines and offers a record-breaking US$10 million prize pot &ndash; the largest in athletics history &ndash; with individual winners receiving US$150,000 and with the guarantee that every competing athlete will be financially rewarded.</p>
<p>Progress was also made across the five pillars of World Athletics&rsquo; Pioneering Change Strategy &ndash; more participation, more people, more fans, more partnerships and event innovation.</p>
<p>Some 120 Member Federations and 630,000 children took part in Kids&rsquo; Athletics Day in 2025, while course completions across World Athletics education programmes increased by 121% to 70,324. The number of known fans grew to 2.1 million by the end of the year, generating US$1.5m in direct revenue.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We are no longer a summer sport spanning just a few months,&rdquo; said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe. &ldquo;We are a sport that is on show 12 months of the year.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The World Athletics Championships Tokyo 2025 showed us the scale of our reach with 84 countries making a final or a top-eight finish. This is an extraordinary number, the highest ever, and sets us apart from all other sport. An unprecedented global footprint.</p>
<p>&ldquo;But these results don&rsquo;t come about by chance. There is significant investment behind the scenes, both financially and through focused resources from HQ, Area Associations and our Member Federations.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We will continue to deliver our sport with an unrelenting focus on ethics, equality and empowerment with a large dash of transparency and integrity.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>World Athletics</strong></p>
</div>

Increased underlying revenues, excluding the Olympic Dividend, and a continued focus on financial management allowed World Athletics to boost investment in athletes, grants and development and innovation while maintaining a strong cash position in 2025, according to the organisation’s Annual Report and Accounts published today.

World Athletics publishes 2025 Annual Report and Accounts

<p>Ahead of the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest, we pick out some of the stars to watch out for in the field events.</p>
<h3>Mondo Duplantis</h3>
<p>There has been a cloak of invincibility to the Swedish pole vaulter in recent times. He had not lost for three years until he suffered a rare defeat at his home Diamond League event in Stockholm and then as an injury precaution he retired from the competition in London. Expect normal service to be resumed for the multiple Olympic and world champion come Budapest, although a strong challenge could again come from Emmanouil Karalis who has also raised the bar this year. Duplantis set his latest world record of 6.31m in March and, talking of records, he released his latest as the anthem for the Ultimate Championship.</p>
<h3>Yaroslava Mahuchikh</h3>
<p>Life on the road had taken its toll on the Ukrainian so her coach Tatiana Stepanova advised her to return to her homeland despite the Russian invasion still going, now into its fifth year. Training locally and meeting children in the area acted as a spark to her own training regimen and she went on to be crowned champion at the World Indoor Championships in Toruń in March. The best clearance of the season by her, or anyone else for that matter, is the 2.03m she managed in her native Ukraine all the way back in January, but there have been multiple clearances over two metres since that point.</p>
<h3>Ethan Katzberg</h3>
<p>Setting foot inside the Gyula Zsivotzky National Athletics Centre <span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">in Budapest always seems to have the desired effect on Canadian Katzberg. It was here that he properly announced himself as the world&rsquo;s premier hammer thrower by winning the world title in 2023. He went on to retain that title two years later as well as celebrate Olympic glory and most recently he was crowned Commonwealth Games champion for the first time in Glasgow. He has thrown 83.64m this season &ndash; in Budapest, of all places.</span></p>
<h3>Thea LaFond</h3>
<p>Dancing was a young Thea LaFond's first passion growing up, enrolled in classes and flitting from ballet to jazz to tap before trying out athletics for the first time at the age of 13 at the suggestion of her high-school friends. Dance's loss has been athletics' gain as the Dominican athlete has increasingly shone from winning both the Olympics and World Indoors in 2024 to her most recent title, the Commonwealths, in Glasgow in August. She broker her national record with a best of 15.02m for Olympic glory and shattered that this season with a 15.25m in Zagreb.</p>
<h3>Militadis Tentoglou</h3>
<p>The two-time Olympic champion seems to be returning to his best form at exactly the right time. At his national championships in Volos at the end of July, he recorded his best ever series of jumps with three over the 8.60m mark. His best of 8.66m sets the standard for the long jump in 2026 and it&rsquo;s worth noting that no other man has gone beyond 8.51m so far this season. Last season he finished 11th at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo but he is returning to Budapest and the scene of his previous world title win in 2023.</p>
<h3>Yan Ziyi</h3>
<p>The Chinese teenager has burst on to the senior stage this season, backing up her world U20 title win in 2024. She still belongs to that age category but is living up the adage that age is nothing but a number. The day after turning 18, she flung the javelin 71.74m at the Diamond League in Xiamen to put herself second on the world all-time list. She has proved the form athlete in the Diamond League since with victories in Oslo, Paris and Monaco.</p>

Ahead of the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest, we pick out some of the stars to watch out for in the field events.

Ultimate field stars to watch

<p>In the poignant campaign movie for the 50th edition of the Royal Memorial Van Damme, as it is now fittingly titled, a computer-generated image of the late Ivo Van Damme comes vividly to life.</p>
<p>Stepping into the King Baudouin Stadium, he nods in approval at a video clip of the free-flowing Sebastian Coe notching the first world record at the Brussels meeting that honours the memory of the Belgian middle-distance prodigy who was cruelly cut down in his prime.</p>
<p>Coe raced at the inaugural Memorial Van Damme in August 1977, just eight months after the tall Belgian with the distinctive goatee-beard lost his life at the age of 22 in a car crash in the south of France.</p>
<p>And the World Athletics President will be among the great and good of track and field who gather in the King Baudouin Stadium to pay tribute to Van Damme at a meeting that doubles as the 2026 Wanda Diamond League Final over the course of Friday 4 and Saturday 5 September.</p>
<p>Van Damme&rsquo;s death &ndash; on the way back from a training camp in Marseille in December 1976 &ndash; came just four months after he had claimed silver medals behind Alberto Juantorena at 800m and John Walker at 1500m at the Montreal Olympic Games.</p>
<p>The golden era of British middle-distance supremacy, spearheaded by Coe and Steve Ovett, might well have been very different had the 6ft 4in Van Damme lived to fulfil his huge potential.</p>
<p>After holding off the fast-finishing, hitherto boxed-in Van Damme to win the 1500m gold by 0.10 in Montreal, Walker was asked who might succeed him as holder of the world record for the mile. &ldquo;I think Van Damme will be the greatest,&rdquo; the New Zealander answered. &ldquo;He has great speed.&rdquo;</p>
<p>That speed was evident in the 800m in Montreal. As Juantorena powered to victory in 1:43.5, the young Belgian followed the mighty Cuban home in 1:43.9.</p>
<p>The Memorial Van Damme, which has been given regal approval and an official Royal title by King Philippe of Belgium in recognition of its 50th anniversary, should have been the Van Damme Classic, featuring the man himself.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The plan was hatched for a grand track meeting at what was then the Heysel Stadium, now the King Baudouin Stadium, at a get-together between Van Damme and Wilfried Meert, one of Belgium&rsquo;s leading sports writers at the time. Instead, Meert and a group of journalistic colleagues staged the inaugural event in honour of their late friend.&nbsp;</p>
<p>A crowd of 40,000 packed into Heysel on 16 August 1977 and stars of the Montreal Olympics paid tribute to the young Belgian who had started his sporting life as a youth team striker with the Brussels football club Racing White &ndash; before joining the Daring Leuven Athletics Club and finishing a fighting fourth behind the victorious Ovett in the 800m final at the 1973 European U20 Championships in Duisburg (wearing a white cap in homage to his hero, Olympic two-lap champion Dave Wottle).</p>
<p>Walker attacked Filbert Bayi&rsquo;s 1500m world record, finishing 0.5 shy with the fourth-fastest performance of all time, 3:32.7. Ivo&rsquo;s father presented the winner&rsquo;s gold medal to the Kiwi, who stepped down from the podium and touchingly handed it back to Van Damme senior, saying: &ldquo;Sir, this is the medal of your son.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The 21-year-old Coe finished third in the 800m with a PB of 1:46.31. He returned in 1978, improving his British 800m record to 1:44.3.</p>
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6a9abe9dad6b5105b987d80b.jpeg" alt="1978 Memorial Van Damme programme" />
<p style="font-size: 0.9em; color: #b2b2b2; text-align: right; margin: -15px 0 0px;">1978 Memorial Van Damme programme</p>
<p>In 1981, with the first of his two Olympic 1500m titles behind him, the future President of World Athletics gave the Royal Memorial Van Damme its maiden world record, regaining the global mile mark from his great rival Ovett with a blistering 3:47.33.</p>
<p>In all, there have been 14 world records and three world bests at the meeting &ndash; among them, Kenenisa Bekele&rsquo;s 26:17.63 for 10,000m in 2005 and Aries Merritt&rsquo;s 12.80 in the 110m hurdles in 2012.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Merritt and Coe are among those installed in the Memorial Van Damme Hall of Fame and this year&rsquo;s inductees include nine-time Olympic gold medallist Carl Lewis, the US legend of the sport who has held the long jump meeting record of 8.65m since 1984.</p>
<p>The legacy of both Van Damme and the Brussels meeting was also formally recognised by World Athletics in November 2019, when World Athletics Heritage Plaques were awarded to Ivo Van Damme in the Legend category and to the Memorial Van Damme in the Competition category.</p>
<p>The half century celebrations also include the grand &lsquo;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/heritage/news/ivo-to-mondo-exhibition-brussels-50-years-memorial-van-damme" target="_blank" rel="noopener">From Ivo to Mondo Expo</a>,&rsquo; featuring Ivo&rsquo;s spikes, his 1976 Olympic outfit and training logs, together with items from the magnificent Museum of World Athletics collection generously donated by many of the greats who raced against Van Damme or who have graced the memorial meeting, including Lewis, Usain Bolt and Mondo Duplantis.</p>
<p>The exhibition is located on the first floor of the Lottery Shop on De Brouck&egrave;re Square in the heart of Brussels, from 8 August to 6 September. Admission is free.</p>
<p>As the athletics world gathers in the Belgian capital to honour the memory of the late, great Ivo Van Damme, perhaps the final words should be those of one of his great rivals.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Ovett won the European U20 800m ahead of the young Belgian in 1973 and finished fifth, three places behind him, in the Olympic 800m final of 1976. He missed Coe&rsquo;s 1500m world record by a 0.1 whisker with a time of 3:32.2 in the 1981 edition of the Memorial Van Damme.</p>
<p>&ldquo;It was a terrible shock for me to hear of the tragic death of Ivo Van Damme,&rdquo; the future Olympic 800m champion wrote in a letter to <em>Athletics Weekly</em>.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;To win two silver medals in any Olympics is a fabulous performance; to win them in only your first Games and at the age of 22 marks the greatness of the man, who must have surely gone on to greater honours.</p>
<p>&ldquo;As a friend I will miss him at the beginning of races, when we used to worry and joke together, during them when we both raced hard, and then finally afterwards &ndash; the sharing of joy and disappointment we both recognised in each other.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Now all I feel is a certain numbness at the loss of a friend and the emptiness that will be left when it goes.</p>
<p>&ldquo;My sympathies go to his parents and friends.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Simon Turnbull for World Athletics Heritage<br /><br /></strong></p>
<div><a href="https://tinyurl.com/visitMOWA" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6885f79e982e117f1338cb26.jpg" alt="MOWA banner" /></a>
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In the poignant campaign movie for the 50th edition of the Royal Memorial Van Damme, as it is now fittingly titled, a computer-generated image of the late Ivo Van Damme comes vividly to life.

Remembering Van Damme as athletics marks 50th edition of prestigious Brussels meeting

<p>The inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship gets under way in Budapest in the coming days, but the event has been three years in the making.</p>
<p>Central to the development of the new-look competition has been World Athletics' Innovation and Research and Development Unit, headed by Jakob Larsen. He explains how science, research and data analysis have helped shape some of the key decisions behind the Ultimate.</p>
<h3>What was the remit of the unit when it was set up?</h3>
<p>Originally, the focus was at the sport level. We spent time looking at things such as which new disciplines could be introduced. The mixed 4x100m relay at the Ultimate is one result of that work.</p>
<p>We used the World Championships in Budapest to carry out a lot of our initial analysis and generate insights that could help drive change. From there, we moved on to looking at new opportunities such as the Ultimate and the World Athletics Marathon Championships.</p>
<p>With the Ultimate, we had the opportunity to put some of the insights and knowledge we had gained to hopefully good use.</p>
<h3>How does something go from an idea to reality?</h3>
<p>The usual process starts with a lot of data collection and analysis, both internally and externally. We look at what that tells us and what we can learn from it.</p>
<p>From there, an idea can develop into a proposal and eventually make its way to the World Athletics Council.</p>
<h3>How do you decide which events to include in the Ultimate and which to leave out?</h3>
<p>Some might think it's purely a popularity contest, but the line-up of disciplines is based on several considerations.</p>
<p>One is the popularity of each discipline, based on global fan surveys and entertainment surveys conducted in stadiums. But there are other sources too, such as looking at how TV viewers behave minute by minute when particular disciplines are being shown.</p>
<p>We've carried out research across numerous championships, which means we're able to identify certain patterns. At several championships, we also conducted emotional-impact analysis and biometric measurements with TV viewer panels to assess levels of excitement through things such as sweat response and pulse rate.</p>
<p>Putting all of that together gave us an indication of the effectiveness of certain disciplines &ndash; not just in isolation, but in how they work alongside one another. There has to be an interaction between track and field.</p>
<h3>Can you explain more about the viewer tests? What did they involve?</h3>
<p>We conducted research with international panels using hand-mounted devices. Panellists watched the Budapest 2023 World Championships and the Paris Olympics at home, and we collected their reactions second by second.</p>
<p>We could then match that data against specific competition moments &ndash; a foul compared with a valid jump, for example, or the minutes immediately after a race &ndash; as well as non-competition elements such as TV graphics, athlete introductions, interviews and studio segments.</p>
<p>That gave us insights into the impact of almost everything: heats compared with semi-finals and finals; fouls compared with valid jumps; whether a long jump is competitive, valid but not competitive, or invalid.</p>
<p>We could also look at nationality &ndash; whether watching an athlete from your own country increases engagement, for example, and whether that effect differs between track and field.</p>
<p>It's a level of detail we simply haven't had before.</p>
<p>We then combined the behavioural data with the panels' survey responses, allowing us to compare what people say they like with how they actually react. That turned out to be an important element.</p>
<p>People sometimes report the preferences they think they should have, while their measured reactions point somewhere slightly different. That gap between conscious and subconscious preference is valuable. It gives us another lens through which to look at competition design, beyond simply asking people what they want.</p>
<p>We're still at an early stage with this kind of analysis, but we've already put some of those insights to work in designing the Ultimate.</p>
<h3>Were there other factors in deciding the programme?</h3>
<p>Another consideration is the layout of the stadium and the need to have something happening for everyone.</p>
<p>It's almost like a five-ring circus: two bends, two straights and the field. You need entertainment across those five areas inside the stadium in Budapest.</p>
<p>Then there are the obvious constraints of having just nine hours of competition, compared with around 55 hours at a World Championships.</p>
<h3>Are the disciplines set in stone from one Ultimate to the next?</h3>
<p>No. For one thing, the layout of the next stadium might be completely different, and that will have an impact.</p>
<p>We've only begun to scratch the surface of how the various disciplines affect each other. It's not like a football match, where there's one competition taking place. We have several competitions happening at the same time. Some will amplify each other and work well together; others less so.</p>
<h3>Are there different considerations around the field events?</h3>
<p>We've tended to group all field events together, but there are important differences.</p>
<p>In the vertical jumps, the best tends to happen last. In the throws and horizontal jumps, that's not necessarily the case. There is a set number of attempts and the decisive moment can come at any point.</p>
<p>Throws and horizontal jumps are therefore useful when you're scripting the competition. Vertical jumps are less predictable because you can't control their duration in the same way, and they tend to have this emotional peak at the end.</p>
<p>They're almost like a joker in the pack &ndash; you can't script them to the same extent.</p>
<h3>Fans have been central to your thinking throughout, haven't they?</h3>
<p>I'm a fan of athletics, but I've made a point of looking at the fans rather than just the field of play.</p>
<p>In my opinion, the ideal team would have half of its people looking at the competition and the other half looking at the fans. Sometimes you need to turn your back on the competition and watch the audience instead.</p>
<p>This event has also been tailor-made for broadcast, so during the competition some of the team won't be watching it live in the stadium. They'll be watching on television to understand how the product works from a broadcast perspective.</p>
<h3>Is the world of athletics fans an easy one to navigate?</h3>
<p>It's a complicated landscape. There's an appetite for change, but people are also worried about the consequences.</p>
<p>Whenever you change something, most people's first question is: what does that mean for me and for the things I care about?</p>
<h3>Is there a risk in staging a new event like this?</h3>
<p>There is, but I'd argue that not doing it comes with an even greater risk.</p>
<p>Look at the sports industry as a whole. Things are clearly changing, and the way people interact with sport has changed. Not changing would therefore be counter-intuitive.</p>
<h3>What was the thinking behind some of the innovations we're going to see in Budapest?</h3>
<p>Budapest in 2023 was one of the best World Championships we've seen. Going back to the same location meant we agreed very early on that we needed to do something different, otherwise there was a risk of unfavourable comparisons.</p>
<p>You either want to be a better version or a different but equally good version. So we needed to send a clear message that this is something different.</p>
<h3>Not every innovation will work, will it?</h3>
<p>There's an inherent risk and that comes with the territory, but we're not simply pulling ideas out of a hat. There's a theory behind all of this.</p>
<p>But it is still theory, and we have to see how it plays out in real life.</p>
<p>Some things will be brilliant and will make it into the next edition of the Ultimate, or into other competitions. With others, we might conclude that it was a great idea but, for whatever reason, it didn't work.</p>
<h3>What are you most excited about with the Ultimate?</h3>
<p>It sounds boring, but it's the scripted approach to the timetable.</p>
<p>Historically, athletics timetables have been based largely on functional design principles. This time, we reversed that. We looked at the emotional-impact data and found that, while the average level of excitement when watching athletics is quite high, the peaks aren't necessarily structured in the right way.</p>
<p>That led us to rethink the timetable principles.</p>
<p>Each session will open with a proper A-list track final, which is something we've never really done before. Usually the programme is backloaded to build towards a climax.</p>
<p>This time, each hour has been designed to work almost as a standalone unit. We've gone for something that feels pulsating throughout.</p>
<h3>Are there any innovations or ideas that didn't make it into the Ultimate that you'd like to have seen?</h3>
<p>I'm tempted to say thousands!</p>
<p>One idea was to offer athletes in the throwing events &ndash; the hammer, for example &ndash; customised, painted implements. Maybe that will be one for round two.</p>
<p>The long jump take-off zone was another idea that we ultimately decided not to introduce.</p>
<p>We've also initiated several technology-related projects that were originally intended for the Ultimate but, because of the time constraints, will now be introduced at a later stage.</p>

The inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship gets under way in Budapest in the coming days, but the event has been three years in the making.

From sweat secretion to pulse analysis: The science behind the Ultimate

<p><strong><em>Men&rsquo;s half marathon</em></strong><br /><em>57:20 Jacob Kiplimo (UGA) Lisbon, 8 March 2026</em></p>
<p><strong><em>Men&rsquo;s 110m hurdles</em></strong><br /><em>12.75 Ja&rsquo;Kobe Tharp (USA) Eugene, 10 June 2026</em></p>
<p><strong><em>Men&rsquo;s 1000m</em></strong><br /><em>2:11.83 Emmanuel Wanyonyi (KEN) Monaco, 10 July 2026</em></p>
<p><br />World records set by Jacob Kiplimo, Ja&rsquo;Kobe Tharp and Emmanuel Wanyonyi have been ratified by World Athletics.</p>
<p>Kiplimo achieved his 57:20 half marathon record at the EDP Lisbon Half Marathon on 8 March, returning to the city where he had set his first world record for the distance in 2021.</p>
<p>In a race without pacemakers, the Ugandan passed 5km in 13:28 and reached 10km alongside Nicholas Kipkorir in 27:00. The pair were still together at 15km in 40:52, but Kiplimo then increased the pace, covering the next 5km in 13:31 before going on to win in 57:20.</p>
<p>His performance took 10 seconds off the previous ratified world record of 57:30 set by Ethiopia&rsquo;s Yomif Kejelcha in Valencia on 27 October 2024.</p>
<p>Kejelcha has since surpassed Kiplimo's record, clocking 56:51 at the Media Marat&oacute;n Ciudad de Buenos Aires on 23 August to take 29 seconds off Kiplimo&rsquo;s mark. Kejelcha&rsquo;s 56:51 is subject to the usual ratification procedure.</p>
<p>Tharp broke one of the longest-standing men&rsquo;s track world records when he clocked 12.75 (1.0m/s) in the 110m hurdles at the NCAA Championships in Eugene on 10 June.</p>
<p>The 20-year-old produced the performance in the semifinals, powering away from the field after a strong start and maintaining his rhythm to the line. His 12.75 was a significant improvement on his previous best of 13.01 and took 0.05 off the world record of 12.80 set by fellow US hurdler Aries Merritt in Brussels on 7 September 2012.</p>
<p>Wanyonyi became the first athlete in almost 27 years to break the men&rsquo;s 1000m world record when he clocked 2:11.83 at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Monaco on 10 July.</p>
<p>Making his debut at the distance, the Kenyan followed the pacemakers through 400m in 50.95 and 800m in 1:45.11 before taking over at the front. He held off the challenge of Britain&rsquo;s Jake Wightman on the final lap to win in 2:11.83, with Wightman finishing second in 2:12.77.</p>
<p>Wanyonyi&rsquo;s performance took 0.13 off the previous world record of 2:11.96 set by fellow Kenyan Noah Ngeny in Rieti on 5 September 1999.</p>
<p><strong>World Athletics</strong></p>

World records set by Jacob Kiplimo, Ja’Kobe Tharp and Emmanuel Wanyonyi have been ratified by World Athletics.

Ratified: world records for Kiplimo, Tharp and Wanyonyi

<p>We pick out some of the key athletes to look out for during the three nights of action at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest.</p>
<h3>Julien Alfred</h3>
<p>The Saint Lucian&rsquo;s coach Edrick Floreal said he &ldquo;broke too many eggs&rdquo; with regards to Alfred when the World Championships came to Budapest in 2023. He blamed himself for not having her in the right shape for the 2023 season finale and avoided a repeat a year later as she was crowned Olympic champion in the 100m in Paris and took home the silver in the longer sprint. She has shown form at both distances this season, notably winning the 100m at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Budapest in a season&rsquo;s best of 10.87 in mid-July. She is also the world&rsquo;s fastest woman this year for the 200m with 21.51 in Monaco.</p>
<h3>Oblique Seville</h3>
<p>After winning his first Diamond League title in the 100m in Brussels he declared his aim to dominate next season. He's not doing too shabbily in 2026 currently in terms of on-track domination. His best time of the year was the 9.82 run to win his national championships back in Kingston, Jamaica, in June. That was since eclipsed by Noah Lyles' 9.79 but the opportunity of those two going head-to-head in Budapest was denied with the news that Lyles had been forced to withdraw from competing because of injury. Seville will be the 100m favourite in Budapest having also been victorious in Eugene, Monaco and Silesia this season.</p>
<h3>Marileidy Paulino</h3>
<p>Such are the Dominican&rsquo;s track achievements that she even has her own eponymous film, <em>Marileidy</em>, coming out this summer. Hers is a remarkable story of climbing out of childhood poverty to have her talent for athletics discovered on a handball court by the sports minister. At first, she trained barefoot, then in socks before being gifted trainers. The former handball player has gone from strength to strength on the global stage, winning the 400m world title in 2023 and then Olympic gold a year later. She has dominated one lap of the track this season, no one going faster than the 48.48 she set in her Diamond League victory in Paris in June.</p>
<h3>Emmanuel Wanyonyi</h3>
<p>The 22-year-old insisted he had a new motivation to run following the birth of his first child, daughter Noellah, with fellow athlete Nelly Chepchirchir. He has picked up a world record since over the rarely run 1000m in Monaco back in July but the aimed-for record in the 800m - targeted with his coach Claudio Berardelli - has yet to emerge. He is already an Olympic and world champion and a three-time Diamond League champion over two laps of the track.</p>
<h3>Josh Kerr</h3>
<p>Kerr and his coach Danny Mackey pride themselves on the Scot being a championship performer but they changed the target this season to focus on breaking the mile world record. Kerr achieved the feat at the London Diamond League but showed that, in preparing for records, he had lost none of his championship prowess in then winning Commonwealth Games gold just a few days later. The Ultimate is the remaining target and his muscle memory should be in good order on his return to Budapest. It was here in 2023 that he beat the world&rsquo;s best middle-distance runners to be crowned world champion.</p>
<h3>Masai Russell</h3>
<p>The US hurdler achieved the world record she had been edging towards, clocking a sensational 12.09 during the Diamond League meeting in Zurich. Now Russell has the chance to round off an already impressive season by clinching victory at the Ultimate Championship. She now has four of the six fastest times ever run so the pedigree is clearly there but the Olympic champion knows the calibre of the athletes she is up against in the 100m hurdles.</p>

We pick out some of the key athletes to look out for during the three nights of action at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest.

Ultimate track stars to watch

<p>Melissa Jefferson-Wooden completed a sprinting sweep at last year&rsquo;s World Athletics Championships in Tokyo and is again among the fastest women in the world in 2026. But when not running electric times, she also runs her own non-profit organisation, The Village Initiative Inc. which she spoke about in the latest Side Track.</p>
<h3>How did the Village Initiative come about?</h3>
<p>I woke up on the last day of my honeymoon last fall in Saint Lucia and had this thought I want to start my non-profit. I wanted it to be something that gives to underprivileged communities or places where I'm from, but then also wanted it to be a central hub of resources where people can come to and get the things they need, or be pointed in the right direction. So it basically stemmed from there and I ended up putting together a board.</p>
<h3>It started in your hometown but has already expanded, right?</h3>
<p>At first, I wanted to just do it in my hometown, but my husband told me I have too many connections in different places to just limit myself to Georgetown County. He suggested that could still be the focal point but that the reach is so much greater than where you're from. And so that's where I came up with the idea of having a two-part launch.</p>
<p>We&rsquo;re doing a festival back home at my high school, which is basically like a community centre with local vendors and food trucks with an introduction to what we&rsquo;re trying to do and creating spaces where people realise that you need a village - you don&rsquo;t have to do it all alone. Then the second part is our launch - a gala - and our main sponsorship/fundraising event, and we&rsquo;ll have that in Orlando where I now reside. That night will consist of a fireside chat with boxer Omari Jones, NFL player Marquise Goodman and Olympic sprinter TeeTee Terry. They will all share insights on how they got to where they got to.</p>
<p>It&rsquo;s a night for people to come together, network, and be inspired by other people's stories.</p>
<h3>What are the programmes you&rsquo;ve got lined up?</h3>
<p>There's one called 'The Village Gives' and that will consist of a backpack drive and a holiday drive next year. Another is called 'The Village Champions' which is an initiative where we pick out one to three underprivileged schools and find out which areas they most need help with.</p>
<h3>What was the inception of that idea?</h3>
<p>When my nephew started to play football, his coach &ndash; who is actually one of the members of my board &ndash; explained to me that kids are responsible for getting their own cleats. I then offered to get new cleats for the whole team. It then got me thinking about getting sponsors involved &ndash; whether that&rsquo;s providing book bags for the backpack drive or shoes for a sports programme or someone providing laptop rentals or whatever the case may be.&nbsp;</p>
<h3>What about the backpack drive you mentioned? What do they entail?&nbsp;</h3>
<p>Everyone thinks about getting a new backpack when the school year first starts. But nobody really thinks about when&nbsp;you're halfway through the year and your parents have to go back to the store and buy more supplies because your kid lost their pencils the first couple days of school. So that's what I'm trying to address.</p>
<h3>Have you got other plans in the pipeline?</h3>
<p>By the time we do our gala next year, I want to be able to start giving out scholarships for kids and young adults. Often they&rsquo;re for kids starting school but nobody thinks about the student who started but needs that little bit of help to finish.</p>
<h3>Is that from your own experience?</h3>
<p>I was a student athlete who went pro before they graduated so I still have about 30 credits left so it&rsquo;s on my to-do list to finish my degree. I thought it was cool providing scholarships for kids or students who started but had to take a step back but want to get back into it and they&rsquo;re almost at the finishing line. It's the final push to get them over the finishing line.</p>
<h3>Who was your village growing up?</h3>
<p>There are too many people to name so that&rsquo;s why it&rsquo;s called the village. The people in my village know who was there when it mattered. My Mum and Dad of course but they were working two jobs at a time so it was the after-school programme or my aunt or sister picking me up. Or in the summertime I picked up a job in the library where my aunt worked. Or my friends&rsquo; parents after band practice or basketball practice or track practice. So that&rsquo;s why it&rsquo;s called the village.</p>
<h3>What&rsquo;s the ultimate goal?</h3>
<p>I'd love for my organisation to have the same impact as LeBron James' 'I Promise School'.&nbsp;I truly believe that it could happen.</p>
<h3>It&rsquo;s obviously a big undertaking. Does it help or hinder your running?</h3>
<p>I like the balance. Since becoming world champion, I&rsquo;ve been trying really hard to figure out a way to navigate it. Doing this has helped take the pressure off. I think it&rsquo;s why I&rsquo;ve been running as well as I have been. It&rsquo;s the best thing ever. It&rsquo;s very rewarding; more rewarding in some ways than athletics has been.</p>
<h3>This is more a marathon than a sprint isn't it?</h3>
<p>My husband likes to say sometimes when things get too much for me I like to dissociate. Us sprinters have to learn patience and I&rsquo;m still working on that - things like waiting to hear back from someone or finding out someone&rsquo;s taken a table at the gala.</p>
<h3>This is just the beginning of the journey isn't it?</h3>
<p>It is. The thing I&rsquo;m most looking forward to is we&rsquo;re only starting now. Who&rsquo;s to say what the reach could be come Los Angeles in two years&rsquo; time. And I&rsquo;m having thoughts about a Village hub like a building where people can come and get resources in different states.</p>

Melissa Jefferson-Wooden completed a sprinting sweep at last year’s World Athletics Championships in Tokyo and is again among the fastest women in the world in 2026. But when not running electric times, she also runs her own non-profit organisation, The Village Initiative Inc. which she spoke about in the latest Side Track.

Side Track with Melissa Jefferson-Wooden

<p><em><strong>&bull; <a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/diamond-league/news/diamond-league-final-brussels-2026-day-one" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Day one preview</a></strong></em></p>
<p><br />Just days after breaking their respective world records in Zurich, Alison dos Santos and Masai Russell return to the track at the <strong>Wanda Diamond League</strong> Final in Brussels.</p>
<p>Saturday (5), the second evening of action at the Allianz Memorial Van Damme, brings down the curtain on another pulsating Diamond League season, with Dos Santos and Russell among the standout track athletes on show.</p>
<p>After winning in Zurich, Dos Santos reflected on the fact that the previous time he had dipped below the 400m hurdles world record, he had finished with bronze at the Tokyo Olympics. This time, he was a class apart, clocking 45.80. His closest challenger in Belgium on times this year, Matheus Lima, is nearly one-and-a-half seconds slower for the distance.</p>
<p>Russell is also in electric form over the barriers. She took 0.03 off the previous world record with her 12.09 in Switzerland and almost immediately turned her attention to becoming the first woman in history to break 12 seconds.</p>
<p>Among those aiming to stop her on Saturday night is the woman she usurped as world record-holder, Nigeria&rsquo;s Tobi Amusan. Other challengers include world indoor champion Devynne Charlton and Nadine Visser of the Netherlands.</p>
<p>The women&rsquo;s 800m has proved one of the most eye-catching events on the Diamond League calendar all season long. World leader Audrey Werro will renew her rivalry with Femke Broeders-Bol over two laps of the track.</p>
<p>Werro has been the form athlete at the distance, with the leading contenders pushing each other in pursuit of Jarmila Kratochv&iacute;lov&aacute;&rsquo;s 43-year-old world record. The Swiss athlete has fared best to date, getting to within 0.42 of that mark.</p>
<p>The final night in Brussels gives the Diamond League winners in events contested at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship automatic qualification to the US$10million showdown the following week.</p>
<h3>Challengers line up to topple Tebogo</h3>
<p>Having already booked his spot in the 200m as the Olympic champion, Botswana&rsquo;s Letsile Tebogo will test himself over that distance in what looks like a rapid field.</p>
<p>Tebogo&rsquo;s best of 19.84 this season is some way shy of his 19.46 PB, while the fastest man in the world this year is US athlete Kenny Bednarek, who leads the rankings with 19.62. Other threats come from South Africa&rsquo;s Sinesipho Dambile and Makanakaishe Charamba from neighbouring Zimbabwe.</p>
<p>The other sprint event on the night is the women&rsquo;s 100m, in which Sha&rsquo;Carri Richardson lines up as the quickest this year with 10.77. She will be joined by European champion Amy Hunt and the dual Jamaican threat of Tina Clayton and Jonielle Smith.</p>
<p>Jessica Hull declared that her time was coming after winning double medals at the World Indoor Championships and rising to No.1 in the world rankings. She is steadily delivering on that threat in the 1500m, but the event looks wide open, with Georgia Hunter Bell, Dorcus Ewoi and Birke Haylom among those racing alongside her.</p>
<p>Morocco&rsquo;s Soufiane El Bakkali has made no secret of his desire to break Lamecha Girma&rsquo;s world record for the 3000m steeplechase and tops a field featuring eight of the world&rsquo;s top 10.</p>
<p>Marileidy Paulino has shown little to suggest her crown as the world&rsquo;s best 400m runner is slipping, having broken the Diamond League record with 48.48 to win in Paris at the end of June.</p>
<p>A young pretender is emerging in the form of Czech runner Lurdes Gloria Manuel. The 21-year-old looked sublime when winning the World Indoor Championships in March in Toruń, and later improved her PB to 49.37 when finishing second to Paulino in Paris. But Henriette J&aelig;ger, Natalia Bukowiecka and Nickisha Pryce are all ranked higher than Manuel in 2026.</p>
<p>Bahrain&rsquo;s Birhanu Balew, meanwhile, tops the field for the men&rsquo;s 5000m, with US duo Grant Fisher and Graham Blanks his biggest rivals on paper.</p>
<h3>High jump battle hotting up</h3>
<p>The women&rsquo;s high jump appears to be reaching a crescendo in the latter part of the season. World champion Nicola Olyslagers won the preceding Diamond League meeting in Zurich with 2.02m, just 2cm shy of her PB.</p>
<p>In Heilbronn, Olyslagers&rsquo; fellow Australian Eleanor Patterson was then embroiled in a thrilling head-to-head with Olympic champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh. Both cleared two metres, but Patterson sealed the win after clearing the height at her first attempt.</p>
<p>Also in the field is another two-metre jumper in Nafi Thiam, though her best this season of 1.84m is some way shy of that.</p>
<p>Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage has been enjoying the season of his life in the men&rsquo;s javelin, the Commonwealth champion winning 11 of his past 12 events. Arguably the most impressive was his career-best 92.62m in Rome, while he also threw 92.07m in Zurich last week.</p>
<p>The men to finish second and third to him respectively in Zurich &ndash; Anderson Peters and Dawid Wegner &ndash; again aim to topple him a few days on, as does current world champion Keshorn Walcott.</p>
<p>In the women&rsquo;s javelin, Haruka Kitaguchi may have comfortably booked her place at the Ultimate Championship as Olympic champion, but she is currently bidding to get back to her best with super coach Jan Železn&yacute;.</p>
<p>She showed good form in winning in Lausanne recently, but all eyes will be on Chinese rising star Yan Ziyi, the 18-year-old whose 71.74m put her second on the all-time list.</p>
<p>Italian Larissa Iapichino is bidding for a hat-trick of Diamond League titles in the long jump, while Belgian fans at the King Baudouin Stadium will be hoping for a strong result from home athlete Noor Vidts.</p>
<p>Iapichino&rsquo;s fellow Italian Leonardo Fabbri is the form athlete in the men&rsquo;s shot put with a world-leading 22.74m and a second European title recently picked up in Birmingham. Joe Kovacs, at 37, is still challenging for the biggest honours, as is 34-year-old Kiwi Tom Walsh.</p>
<p>It was in the second round of the triple jump at the European Championships that another Italian, Andy Diaz Hernandez, sailed to 18.15m, comfortably the biggest jump of the year and a lifetime best.</p>
<p>The question is whether he can emulate that leap with Olympic and world champion Pedro Pichardo, Jordan Scott and Yasser Mohammed Triki all lining up against him.</p>
<p>Katie Moon may be world ranked No.1 in the women&rsquo;s pole vault, but three rivals in her event &ndash; Hana Moll, Angelica Moser and Imogen Ayris &ndash; have all cleared higher heights than her this season.</p>
<p><strong>Matt Majendie for World Athletics</strong></p>

Alison Dos Santos and Masai Russell are back in action in Brussels following their world records in Zurich.

World record holders return to track for Diamond League finale

<p><em><strong>&bull; <a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/diamond-league/news/diamond-league-final-brussels-2026-day-two" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Day two preview</a></strong></em></p>
<p><br />The <strong>Wanda Diamond League</strong> season reaches its climax this week with the final at the Allianz Memorial Van Damme in Brussels, where the first set of champions will be crowned on Friday (4) before the remaining disciplines are decided on Saturday.</p>
<p>A win in Brussels for athletes in events contested at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship will guarantee a place in the lucrative inaugural event, where a prize pot of US$10million is up for grabs.</p>
<p>Among the day-one contenders already confirmed for Budapest is Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who has secured a wildcard 1500m call-up and will be hoping to continue his return to form following almost a year out with an Achilles injury.</p>
<p>The Norwegian was crowned European 5000m champion in Birmingham recently, then went on to finish fourth over 1500m in Silesia and fifth in Zurich.</p>
<p>But he faces a stellar line-up including 20-year-old Cameron Myers, who broke the Australian record in winning the Paris Diamond League in 3:28.00, Olympic champion Cole Hocker and 2019 world champion Timothy Cheruiyot.</p>
<p>The day-one action at the Allianz Memorial Van Damme is capped off by the men&rsquo;s 400m, with 22-year-old world champion Collen Kebinatshipi having enjoyed a stellar season since his first Diamond League win in May.</p>
<p>Since then, he has twice broken the Diamond League record, first with 43.54 and then with 43.44 in Monaco to move to sixth on the world all-time list. The other two runners in the field to duck under 44 seconds this season are Zakithi Nene and Jacory Patterson.</p>
<p>The last women&rsquo;s action of the night sees Julien Alfred looking to extend her unbeaten streak in the 200m.</p>
<p>She set a career best of 21.51 in Monaco and only two women in the field have come within half a second of that this season: the US duo Kayla White and Cambrea Sturgis. Amy Hunt will also be hoping to get in the mix after her quadruple gold at the European Championships.</p>
<h3>US hurdles battle</h3>
<p>It was in Brussels back in 2012 that Aries Merritt set the long-standing world record for the 110m hurdles, a mark Ja&rsquo;Kobe Tharp broke at the NCAA Championships in June. He will have his eyes on lowering that 12.75 mark, but faces a triple threat from his US compatriots on Friday night.</p>
<p>Most notable among his challengers is world champion Cordell Tinch, along with Jamal Britt and Trey Cunningham, all sub-13 men at their peak.</p>
<p>Like Tinch, Oblique Seville has already booked his spot at the Ultimate as the current world champion in the 100m, and he has properly backed up those credentials in 2026. He was crowned national champion in June in a season&rsquo;s best of 9.82, won the Prefontaine Classic, and also picked up victories in Monaco and Silesia.</p>
<p>He faces a double US challenge from Christian Coleman and Trayvon Bromell, while a strong African contingent &mdash; Kanyinsola Ajayi, Emmanuel Eseme, Gift Leotlela and Akani Simbine &mdash; have all run 9.93 or quicker this season.</p>
<p>Emmanuel Wanyonyi is peaking at just the right time, having clocked a season&rsquo;s best of 1:41.76 to win last week&rsquo;s 800m Diamond League in Zurich. The world 1000m record-holder again faces Algeria&rsquo;s Djamel Sedjati, who pushed him so close in Switzerland.</p>
<p>The other sub-1:42 man this season, Canada&rsquo;s Marco Arop, is also in action in Brussels, along with home favourite Elliot Crestan.</p>
<p>Recently crowned European champion Emma Zapletalov&aacute; heads the rankings for the women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles ahead of Anna Cockrell and Rushell Clayton.</p>
<p>Defending Diamond League champion Faith Cherotich, fresh from her 8:55.82 victory in Zurich, looks set to do battle with Peruth Chemutai and Winfred Yavi in the women&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase.</p>
<p>Ethiopian contenders dominate the entries for the 5000m, among them Likina Amebaw, Freweyni Hailu and Senayet Getachew, while home hopes will be on Jana van Lent.</p>
<h3>Challengers line up to dethrone Duplantis</h3>
<p>Mondo Duplantis faces a star-studded threat to his Diamond League title, with the top four from last year&rsquo;s World Championships all in action in the Belgian capital.</p>
<p>Kurtis Marschall, a bronze medallist in Tokyo, got the better of Duplantis in Stockholm earlier this season, while Emmanouil Karalis cleared 6.20m in pushing the world No.1 in Zurich recently.</p>
<p>But Duplantis has cleared 6.20m or higher in his three most recent competitions and has had some solid attempts at bettering the 6.31m world record he set indoors in Uppsala at the start of the year.</p>
<p>In the men&rsquo;s long jump, Greece&rsquo;s Miltiadis Tentoglou has marked himself out as the man to beat with a stellar outdoor season to date. He was crowned European champion for the fourth time with a best of 8.44m, but his standout display came at the Greek Championships in July, where he managed three jumps beyond 8.60m.</p>
<p>Those hoping to disrupt his run of good form include Swiss jumper Simon Ehammer, with a personal best of 8.51m set this season, and European indoor champion Bozhidar Sar&acirc;boyukov.</p>
<p>The top five in the 2026 rankings will compete in the women&rsquo;s triple jump, including three women over the 15-metre mark this season: Thea LaFond with 15.25m in Zagreb, Saly Sarr with 15.08m in Silesia and Leyanis P&eacute;rez Hern&aacute;ndez with 15.06m in Monaco.</p>
<p>Gianmarco Tamberi, fresh from his wildcard call-up for the Ultimate, has been enjoying a renaissance at the age of 34. Plagued by injuries in recent years, he clinched a third successive European title on what was the first birthday of his daughter Camilla. Threats in Brussels are likely to come from JuVaughn Harrison, Oleh Doroshchuk and Romain Beckford.</p>
<p>Lithuania&rsquo;s Mykolas Alekna heads the field for the men&rsquo;s discus along with European champion Kristjan Čeh of Slovenia and world champion Daniel St&aring;hl of Sweden, while two-time Olympic champion Valarie Sion is bidding for a sixth successive Diamond League title. Among those aiming to dethrone her are Jorinde van Klinken and Cierra Jackson.</p>
<p>In the other field event to be decided, Chase Jackson of the USA and Dutch athlete Jessica Schilder will be hoping to emulate their 21-metre throws from this season in the women&rsquo;s shot put. Jackson only joined that elite club last week in Berlin, while Schilder achieved the feat at the start of the outdoor season in China.</p>
<p><strong>Matt Majendie for World Athletics</strong></p>

Many of the world's best athletes converge on Brussels for two nights of action at the Diamond League Final with automatic qualifying spots for the Ultimate.

Diamond League reaches climax with Ultimate places up for grabs

<p><strong><em>&bull; Top athletes from around the world will throw a 'TDK smart javelin' equipped with TDK sensors during a special demonstration session at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest, Hungary, from September 11-13.</em></strong></p>
<p><strong><em>&bull; Throwing data collected by sensors will be analysed in real time, and visualisations of the data will be showcased at the venue.</em></strong></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>TDK Corporation has been announced as an official global supporter of the World Athletics Ultimate Championship. As part of the partnership, TDK will provide a 'TDK Smart Javelin' &ndash; a javelin equipped with TDK sensors &ndash; to visualise performance data during a special javelin-throw demonstration session at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship, to be held in Budapest, Hungary, from September 11-13.</p>
<p>Ahead of the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25, TDK worked with World Athletics on a project to visualise javelin throw data using sensor technology. The project explored how previously unseen performance data could be captured and presented to enhance understanding of the event for athletes and spectators.</p>
<p>Since then, improvements to the sensor module and software have enabled TDK to analyse and visualise the javelin&rsquo;s movement in real time. While conventional competition results record the distance of each throw, the sensor technology can provide additional data on factors such as release angle, rotation, speed, height and flight trajectory. This information can give athletes greater insight into their technique and performance, while the visualisations can also help spectators better understand the technical and physical demands of javelin throwing.</p>
<p>Top javelin throwers from around the world will participate in the demonstration session. Data collected from the javelins &ndash; including release angle, rotation, speed, height and flight trajectory &ndash; will be analysed in real time, with visualisations displayed at the venue. The technology will give spectators a new way to understand the technique and performance behind elite javelin throwing.<br /><br /></p>
<h3>Session details</h3>
<p>&bull; Date / time: Friday 11 September 2026, 9:00am-1:00pm local time (scheduled)</p>
<p>&bull; Venue: Training &amp; warm-up venue at The Gyula Zsivotzky National Athletics Centre<br /><br /></p>
<h3>Athletes scheduled to participate</h3>
<p>&bull; Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage (Sri Lanka): Ranked No.1 in the world in the men&rsquo;s javelin in 2026</p>
<p>&bull; Keshorn Walcott (Trinidad and Tobago): 2025 world champion; 2012 Olympic champion; 2016 Olympic bronze medallist</p>
<p>&bull; Haruka Kitaguchi (Japan): 2024 Olympic champion; 2023 world champion; Japanese record holder<br />(Note: Kitaguchi will attend the session to discuss the sensor technology but will not throw)</p>
<p>&bull; M&aacute;t&eacute; Horv&aacute;th (Hungary): 2025 Hungarian champion; 2022 European U18 silver medallist</p>
<p>&bull; Fanni K&ouml;v&eacute;r (Hungary): 2024 Hungarian champion; 2023 European U20 bronze medallist</p>
<p>&bull; M&aacute;t&eacute; J&aacute;rv&aacute;s (Hungary): 2026 Hungarian bronze medallist</p>
<p>The project forms part of TDK&rsquo;s long-term vision, &lsquo;TDK Transformation&rsquo; and its &lsquo;In Everything, Better.&rsquo; brand identity. Through its &lsquo;TDK Sensing Within&rsquo; concept, TDK is working with partners to apply its sensor technology to products and solutions across a range of areas.</p>
<p>TDK has been an official partner of World Athletics since 1983 and has supported the development of athletics for more than four decades. The partnership has increasingly included projects that use TDK technology to provide new insights into athlete performance and the sport.</p>
<p>The World Athletics Ultimate Championship is a brand-new global championship that is set to transform the athletics calendar and settle the debate over which athlete is the best of the best every two years. It will pit world champions, Olympic champions, Wanda Diamond League winners and the year&rsquo;s top-ranked athletes against each other to crown the champion of champions. The Ultimate, which will take place in Budapest, Hungary, on 11-13 September, features a historic prize pot of US$10 million.</p>

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