World Athletics Ultimate Championship: Everything you need to know about new global competition

One trophy, no medals. Ten million dollars. A red carpet. A black infield. Noah Lyles as MC. Armand Duplantis singing before eyeing another world record.

This athletics season was set to be the first since the pandemic which did not culminate in an Olympic Games or World Championships.

To bridge that gap, the sport's governing body has devised a new competition.

Introducing: The World Athletics Ultimate Championship.

Across three days of competition in Budapest, live on the BBC from 11-13 September, the world's top athletes will compete for record prize money and a new title.

A new event pitching the best against the best, with increased financial commitments. You may be thinking: 'Haven't we been here before?'

Last year, Michael Johnson's inaugural Grand Slam Track league attempted to maintain focus on the sport following Paris 2024 while offering lucrative prize money, but ended after encountering serious financial issues.

This innovative, biennial format is bankrolled by World Athletics - and president Sebastian Coe has said he hopes to use it as an "incubator for change" which will shape the future of the sport's established World Championships.

So, how does the Ultimate Championship work, what do the athletes think, and is it needed? Here is everything you need to know.

The sport has long grappled with the issue of retaining the attention and excitement it generates at the Olympics throughout those four-year cycles.

Because of the disruption caused by the pandemic, and subsequent postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Games, each of the past five years have provided a pinnacle event which gathered the biggest stars in front of a global audience.

For many top British athletes, a 2026 season centred around a Commonwealth Games and European Championship on home soil would probably have finished at the Diamond League Final.

Coe and World Athletics have planned for three years to fill that perceived void.

"It is an attempt to just start experimenting a bit and innovating, with an event that will determine who really is the best of the best," Coe told BBC Sport.

"There's no guarantee we're going get everything right, and no guarantee that everything is going to work. In two years, we might look at a slightly different format.

"I also want to be able to put some of the things we're doing into the World Championship format. We have a responsibility to try and engage new young audiences."

Day one coverage: Friday, 11 September 18:00-21:00 - BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website & app

How does the Ultimate Championship work?

The Ultimate features a condensed three-night schedule, held as three-hour sessions.

It is reserved for reigning Olympic, world and Diamond League champions, plus athletes who have qualified by world ranking.

However, a few star names who did not qualify have been granted exceptional invitations, including Great Britain's Josh Kerr and Norwegian rival Jakob Ingebrigtsen into the men's 1500m.

There will be a total of 28 finals, including straight finals in all field events and both the 1500m and the 5,000m. The 800m and shorter distances will have semi-finals.

Not every discipline has been included, however. World Athletics says those decisions were taken based on the popularity of each event and data it gathered on viewer behaviour, including sweat response and pulse rate.

As a result, long distance events such as the 3,000m steeplechase and 10,000m, and field events such as the shot put and discus, have been left out.

World Athletics is providing "the richest prize pot in the history of the sport" with a total of $10m (£7.4m) to be won.

Each individual event winner will pocket $150,000 (£110,000) - more than double the offering at last year's World Championships - with $75,000 (£55,000) for the runner-up and $40,000 (£29,500) for third.

World Athletics has introduced several innovations for the inaugural event in an attempt to develop both the fan and athlete experience. They include:

The day before: The eve of the championship will include a red carpet entrance for athletes, with a designated media day featuring press conferences and photoshoots.

The lane draft: Athletes contesting the 200m will take part in a lane draft, selecting their preferred semi-final heat and lane in world rankings order.

No medals: Only the Ultimate champions will receive a trophy, which will be waiting for them to collect on a plinth at the end of their event.

Adapted for TV: There will be the use of augmented reality, athlete headshots, win probabilities and projected finishing positions to develop viewer experience.

Entertainment: Pole vault star Duplantis will perform the official song of the championship among the live acts, while American sprinter Lyles - ruled out by injury - will act as host. Centre-court style interviews will follow events.

Attention-grabbing look: The black infield is designed to steer focus to the ongoing action, with only the active competition areas highlighted in contrast.

Great Britain have confirmed a team of 22 athletes for the championship, including Olympic 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson.

Hodgkinson will be reunited with rivals Audrey Werro and Femke Broeders-Bol in the women's 800m, having taken European silver behind Werro in August.

Training partner Georgia Hunter Bell contests the 1500m seeking a fourth major title of 2026 following European, Commonwealth and world indoor success.

After winning a remarkable four European titles, Amy Hunt will race against global champions including Julien Alfred, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and Gabby Thomas in the 100m and 200m, while the mixed 4x100m relay is also included in the schedule.

European gold and silver medallists Romell Glave and Jeremiah Azu contest the men's 100m alongside world champion Oblique Seville, while Matthew Hudson-Smith is in the 400m after his triumph in Birmingham.

Mile world record holder Kerr, world champion in 2023, is joined by 2022 world champion Jake Wightman in a stacked men's 1500m featuring Ingebrigtsen, Olympic champion Cole Hocker and world champion Isaac Nader.

Ingebrigtsen is also entered in the 5,000m, having returned from long-term injury to win European gold in that event last month.

'I'm not a robot' - Kerr responds to criticism before Ingebrigtsen reunion

'Progress' or 'not good for the sport' - what do the athletes think?

Many of the sport's biggest names have voiced their support for athletics' new global event.

Pole vault world record holder Duplantis was named as the inaugural 'Ultimate Star' last summer and has collaborated on the official anthem for the championship , Gold, which he has written and performed.

"It's super exciting. I think it was time to try something new and innovate within athletics," Duplantis said.

"It's tough for athletes when we have years without a championship. I think this fills the gap perfectly, you want to have some sort of climax to build towards."

Kerr, set for a first race against rival Ingebrigtsen for two years, said the substantial increase in prize money showed how "serious" World Athletics are about the event.

However, while the 2023 world champion agrees that a global championship was needed, he accepts there is "probably going to be some confusion from the outside world about what this is".

"If that's what they're willing to put forward in prize money, it means that they're willing to put that effort into marketing and media," said Kerr.

"We're seeing progress. Obviously, $150,000 is a lot of money. It's not as much as other big sports, but they've earned that through years of pushing their marketing."

Hurdles star Karsten Warholm has voiced his concern regarding the impact on the calendar, describing this year's late-season schedule as "chaos".

"I think the Diamond League is a fantastic concept that should be cultivated. It will take a long time before people understand what an Ultimate Champion is," Warholm told Norwegian media outlet VG.

"It's pretty much the same athletes who participate but there could be two different winners at the Diamond League final and the Ultimate Championship.

"In terms of storytelling, it's going to be difficult. I don't think even athletics people are keeping up."

There is also the matter of the excluded athletes and events.

World triple jump champion Pedro Pichardo responded on social media to the decision to exclude his discipline: "I really don't understand what your problem is, and even less so making this decision without any explanation.

"This isn't track and field and it's not good for our sport."

After ending her season with victory in the Diamond League Final, world shot put champion Chase Jackson told Citius Mag: "My body is saying 'yes' but my pockets are saying 'why the hell am I not at the Ultimate?'

"How [do] you have track and field and just skip events? How does that make any sense?"