World Athletics announces 16 disciplines for inaugural Ultimate Championship

BUDAPEST, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- A total of 16 disciplines will feature at the new World Athletics Ultimate Championship in 2026, the World Athletics announced here on Friday.

The World Athletics also unveiled that 28 events of the 16 disciplines that will feature in the new tournament, including 16 track and 10 field, plus two relays.

"We already have great World Championships and Olympic Games, so we didn't want to just reproduce, recreate what's there already," Jon Ridgeon, CEO of the World Athletics, said.

"We wanted to create something better. People were saying they wanted something shorter and faster, so what we've done is we've tried to create the most packed, fast-paced timetable across those three nights of athletics as we possibly can. We just couldn't include all the disciplines. So we have 26 disciplines, plus two relays, in terms of 16 track, 10 field and two relays."

The World Athletics Ultimate Championship will be broadcasted by Tata Communications and HBS, the world track-and-field governing body announced.

Based on the five-year deal with Tata Communications in June, the World Athletics announced the appointment at the Budapest National Athletics Stadium, where the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship will be hosted in 2026.

World Athletics has also appointed Infront to lead the charge on international media rights sales for the event.

The World Athletics Ultimate Championship is a year-ending event to bring world champions, Olympic champions, the Wanda Diamond League winners and the year's best performing athletes to vie for the ultimate title and prize.

The event will be first hosted in Budapest on September 11-13, 2026, and will be held every two years when there is no World Athletic Championships in those years. The total prize is 10 million U.S. dollars and the champion of each event will receive a 150,000 U.S. dollars.

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said that the organization "wanted to have a different event. The World Championships lasts for nine days, with 49 disciplines and 58 hours of broadcast. This is different, and we want to engage new and younger audiences. All the research shows the three hours in three nights is the perfect time for those who have never watched athletics before."

"This new global event will be a game-changer for our sport and for our athletes. 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," he added.

Coe said the World Athletics pays 24 million U.S. dollars every four years to the athletes as prize money and the 10 million of the Ultimate Championship every two years is additional money.

"I just like the thought that athletes are being able to eat properly and live properly and able to train in a modern environment," Coe joked.

"We have to do everything we possibly can to make sure that those athletes have a financial security while they're competing. We must always remember that the biggest sponsors that any athlete will have that reaches the highest level is not a shoe company, it's not prize money, it's not world athletics, it's not their individual sponsors. It's their families who have stood behind them for often a decade before they've reached the prominence or the profile in order to attract that commercial sponsorship," the President added.

Dhaval Ponda, Tata Communications Vice President and Global Media Head, added: "Tata Communications is thrilled to partner with World Athletics for the Ultimate Championship, a groundbreaking addition to the global track and field calendar. The latest collaboration marks a new era in fan engagement, one that will deliver a more immersive, high-energy and unparalleled viewing experience." ■