“This is show time!” says Coe on the World Athletics Ultimate Champs

Seb Coe tells AW about a new event that is poised to make a big impact at the end of the 2026 season

The World Athletics Ultimate Championship has been around a year in the making and some of the details are yet to be finalised. It is due to unfold in Budapest in mid-September 2026 where it will form the climax to the track and field season. It will be fast-paced, innovative and both athlete and fan-friendly. “This is show time!” says World Athletics president Seb Coe.

“This is three nights. Three hours. Four hundred of the top athletes. Sixteen in the track events. Eight in the field. Straight final in the field. Semi and final in track. It will not have every discipline but all the marquee events will be there.”

The concept for the event is fill the void during a year when there is not a global championships and to give athletes and fans a big end-of-season meeting to look forward to. It will be staged over three days with a $10 million prize pot, which means winners will earn $150,000 each.

“We want it to be fast, free flowing and well organised,” says Coe. “The prize money pot is significantly higher than we’ve had in the sport before. Every athlete who wins will walk away with $150,000 but there will be money going through the ranks so everybody will leave the championships with something. We want it to be a new model and it will be something that gives athletes more skin in the game. We can also be more in control of the product.”

Driven by data, World Athletics says athletes will wear national vests because this is proven to interest spectators. The event is likely to include some innovations, too, with the global governing body’s innovation team “working foot to the pedal” right now.

But Coe adds: “We think it will be a compelling and attractive format and we have innovative thoughts that are being road tested at the moment. They might make it into the championships but you have my commitment that they won’t make it in if they don’t pass the road test. People will be watching track and field athletics and not something that is all bells and whistles with no substance.”

Speaking from Budapest, Coe is clearly enthused by the concept and says it is only the second time in his spell as World Athletics president where he has had a “clean sheet of paper” to create something. The first occasion was when he started his role and re-wrote the…