World Athletics unveils new events for first-ever Ultimate Championships in 2026.

The World Athletics has unveiled new events for its first-ever Ultimate Championships scheduled to be held in Budapest in 2026.

The World Athletics Ultimate Championship is a groundbreaking new global event set to transform the athletics calendar and define which athlete is the best of the best.

According to worldathletics.org, the inaugural edition of the sensational sports showdown will be held across three evenings of thrilling action on 11-13 September 2026 in Hungary's capital city of Budapest, with a focus on enhancing the viewing experience – both at home as well as in the stadium – the World Athletics Ultimate Championship will showcase a fast-moving new format for athletics.

Staged every two years to fulfill World Athletics’ ambition of having a global championship every year, the event will provide a spectacular conclusion to the summer athletics season, in the years when there is no World Athletics Championships.

There will be 26 individual events – 16 track, 10 field + two relays, including the debut of the mixed 4x100m, in which the winner of each event takes home $150,000.

Each session will be under three hours in duration, with athletes representing both themselves and their national teams, wearing national kit. The event will be an accelerator for innovation in athletics, using data collected from across the sport.

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said: “This new global event will be a game-changer for our sport and for our athletes. We want to bring our fans athletics like they have never seen it before – with the best of the best athletes in our sport competing head-to-head in a passion-fuelled, high octane, festival of sport, with sound, light, and innovation.

“We are also delighted to announce Tata Communications and HBS as host broadcaster. They have an unparalleled track record for delivering world-class live content across multiple platforms and will deliver an innovative and engaging product for our audiences across the globe, a product that is already exciting broadcasters as our highly experienced and talented media partner Infront embarks on its role to sell the rights with a focus on free to air platforms.”

Here's which events made the cut for the three-day meet in Budapest.