The fields are already taking shape for World Athletics’ debut of the World Ultimate Championships in 2026. The event is being billed as a “clash of titans” all fighting for a record-setting prize pot. Athletes have already locked in their spots thanks to Paris and Tokyo.

Here is everything you need to know about the new championship event:

When is it?

As part of World Athletics’ hopes of having a championship event culminate and close out the season, the World Athletics Ultimate Championships have been added to the calendar every two years. This means the next few years will be capped by the 2026 World Athletics Ultimate Championships in Budapest; the 2027 World Athletics Championships in Beijing and the 2028 World Ultimate Championships (taking place after the Los Angeles Olympics).

The dates for the 2026 World Athletics Ultimate Championships will be Sept. 11th to 13th.

Each of the three sessions will be filled with high-stakes racing. On the track, semifinals in select events will line up eight athletes in each semifinal—only the top four will earn a lane in the final. And for the 1500m, 5000m, and relays, it will be a straight final. Here is the tentative schedule of finals for each of the days:

Friday, September 11th, 2026

Men’s 5000m

Women’s 100m Hurdles

Men’s 110m Hurdles

Women’s High Jump

Men’s Pole Vault

Women’s Long Jump

Men’s Hammer Throw

Mixed 4x100m Relay

Mixed 4x400m Relay

Saturday, September 12th, 2026

Women’s 100m

Men’s 100m

Women’s 800m

Women’s 1500m

Women’s 400m Hurdles

Men’s 400m Hurdles

Women’s Pole Vault

Men’s Long Jump

Women’s Javelin Throw

Sunday, September 13th, 2026

Women’s 200m

Men’s 200m

Women’s 400m

Men’s 400m

Men’s 800m

Men’s 1500m

Women’s 5000m

Men’s High Jump

Women’s Triple Jump

Men’s Javelin Throw

Where is it?

The inaugural edition of the World Athletics Ultimate Championships will be at the National Athletics Centre, which hosted the 2023 World Championships over nine days of competition.

How does it work and what’s at stake?

It will be three days of competition featuring 28 disciplines aimed at a television-first product. A $10 million prize purse is on the line with the winners of each respective event earning $150,000.

What is the prize money breakdown?

Individual

1st – $150,000

2nd – $75,000

3rd – $40,000

4th – $25,000

5th – $16,000

6th – $14,000

7th – $12,000

8th – $10,000

9th – $9,000

10th – $8,000

11th – $7,000

12th – $6,000

13th – $5,000

14th – $4,000

15th – $3,000

16th – $2,000

Relays

1st – $80,000

2nd – $40,000

3rd – $24,000

4th – $20,000

5th – $16,000

6th – $14,000

7th – $10,000

8th – $8,000

Which events will be contested?

Track (Men & Women) events: 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 5000m, 110m hurdles (men), 100m hurdles (women) and the 400m hurdles.

Field events and throws: pole vault (men & women), high jump (men & women), long jump (men & women), triple jump (women), javelin (men & women) and hammer throw (men).

Relays: mixed 4x100m and 4x400m

Here is the targeted field size for each event:

100m – 16

200m – 16

400m – 16

800m – 16

1500m – 12

5000m – 12

100mH / 110mH / 400mH – 16

HJ, PV, LJ, TJ (W only), JT, HT (M only) – 8

4x100m & 4x400m Mixed Relays – 8 teams

How do you qualify?

World Athletics announced its qualification conditions and criteria document on Oct. 30th.

The way individual athletes can earn invites includes:

• being an Olympic champion from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games

• being a world champion from the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25

• winning the 2026 Diamond League Final in Brussels

• their position on the world rankings during the ranking period from Sept. 2nd, 2025 to Sept. 1st, 2026.

You can track who is qualified via the World ranking with the Road To The Ultimate tracker.

There’s no limit on how many athletes from a country can compete in each individual event. Only one relay team can qualify per country.

In the mixed 4x100m and 4x400m relays, the top six teams from the 2026 World Athletics Relays will earn automatic qualification. The 2026 World Relays will be held in Gaborone, Botswana from May 2nd to May 3rd, 2026. The final two spots will go to teams with the best performances recorded between August 22, 2025 and September 1, 2026.

World Athletics also has the right to provide an entry to an athlete who, for whatever reason, has not qualified for the Championship. Such “exceptional invitation” is limited to one per event and the deadline to allocate them is Monday, August 17th.

Provisional entries will be published on Sept. 3rd, 2026. Final entries will be published on Sept. 7th, 2026 after the conclusion of the Diamond League final, which will be held on Sept. 5th and 6th in Brussels.

Who is already qualified?

Here are the 2024 Olympic champions who have already qualified:

100m: 🇱🇨 Julien Alfred and 🇺🇸 Noah Lyles

200m: 🇺🇸 Gabby Thomas and 🇧🇼 Letsile Tebogo

400m: 🇩🇴 Marileidy Paulino and 🇺🇸 Quincy Hall

800m: 🇬🇧 Keely Hodgkinson and 🇰🇪 Emmanuel Wanyonyi

1500m: 🇰🇪 Faith Kipyegon and 🇺🇸 Cole Hocker

5000m: 🇰🇪 Beatrice Chebet and 🇳🇴 Jakob Ingebrigtsen

100m/110m hurdles: 🇺🇸 Masai Russell and 🇺🇸 Grant Holloway

400m hurdles: 🇺🇸 Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and 🇺🇸 Rai Benjamin

High jump: 🇺🇦 Yaroslava Mahuchikh and 🇳🇿 Hamish Kerr

Pole vault: 🇦🇺 Nina Kennedy and 🇸🇪 Mondo Duplantis

Long jump: 🇺🇸 Tara Davis-Woodhall and 🇬🇷 Miltiadis Tentoglou

Women’s triple jump: 🇩🇲 Thea LaFond

Men’s hammer: 🇨🇦 Ethan Katzberg

Javelin: 🇯🇵 Haruka Kitaguchi and 🇵🇰 Arshad Nadeem

Here are the 2025 World champions who have already qualified:

100m: 🇺🇸 Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and 🇯🇲 Oblique Seville

200m: 🇺🇸 Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and 🇺🇸 Noah Lyles

400m: 🇺🇸 Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and 🇧🇼 Collen Kebinatshipi

800m: 🇰🇪 Lilian Odira and 🇰🇪 Emmanuel Wanyonyi

1500m: 🇰🇪 Faith Kipyegon and 🇵🇹 Isaac Nader

5000m: 🇰🇪 Beatrice Chebet and 🇺🇸 Cole Hocker

100m/110m hurdles: 🇨🇭 Ditaji Kambundji and 🇺🇸 Cordell Tinch

400m hurdles: 🇳🇱 Femke Bol and 🇺🇸 Rai Benjamin

High jump: 🇦🇺 Nicola Olyslagers and 🇳🇿 Hamish Kerr

Pole vault: 🇺🇸 Katie Moon and 🇸🇪 Mondo Duplantis

Long jump: 🇺🇸 Tara Davis and 🇮🇹 Mattia Furlani

Women’s triple jump: 🇨🇺 Leyanis Pérez

Men’s hammer: 🇨🇦 Ethan Katzberg

Javelin: 🇪🇨 Yuleisy Angulo and 🇹🇹 Keshorn Walcott

Quick notes on some of the qualified athletes:

– Femke Bol, the reigning World champion in the 400m hurdles, told CITIUS MAG that she does not plan to run the 400m hurdles at the Ultimate Championships as she shifts her focus to the 800m with the long-term goal of contesting the two-lap event at the 2028 Olympics.

– After his victory in the 400m hurdles at the 2025 World Championships, Rai Benjamin said that he’s planning to race the 200m and 400m in 2026. He has the bye as the World and Olympic champion.

– Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone will face a decision in 2026 on whether she will participate in the Ultimate Championships and what event she could contest. She is the world record holder in the 400m hurdles from her 50.37 run in Paris. In 2025, she started off the season doing the 400m hurdles and 400m but opted to solely focus on the flat event for the World Championships in Tokyo. She won gold in 47.78 to break the American record and move to No. 2 on the all-time list.

– Cole Hocker will have the option to double in the 1500m and 5000m.

– Noah Lyles will look for a repeat of his luck from 2023 in Budapest as he’s assured spots in the 100m and 200m.