The first edition of the World Athletics Ultimate Championships -- organization President Lord Sebastian Coe’s “bid to modernise track and field” -- will be “held in Budapest from September 11 to 13,” according to Kit Shepard of the London TIMES. Coe said that the format “will be ‘unashamedly aimed at television.’” Olympic and world champions “qualify automatically,” and almost all other places “will be determined by Diamond League final results and the World Athletics rankings.” Organizers can also “invite one athlete per event who would otherwise not qualify.” The line-up features names such as Olympic and World 100-meter champion Noah Lyles, superstar pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis and Britain’s Olympic 800-meter champion Keely Hodgkinson. Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt is not running but “is promoting the competition in his ‘Ultimate Legend’ ambassadorial role.” The black grass surrounding the track “should stand out on television screens and social media feeds.” There will also be a “red-carpet space where athletes can wear lifestyle clothing.” Athletes “will receive trophies and ‘participation tokens’ rather than medals.” The Ultimate Championships “will be held every two years,” concluding the seasons without a World Championship. The action is “concentrated into a three-hour night session on each of the three days, and there will be no more than 16 competitors in any event” (London TIMES, 7/21).
TIME FOR SOMETHING NEW: Lyles and fellow U.S. sprinter Melissa Jefferson-Wooden appeared on NBC’s “Today” to promote the new competition and said, “We’ve had many championships -- the Olympics championships, world championships. But unfortunately, it’s just a little watered down. Only three athletes from each county are able to go (in each event). And we said, ‘That’s not going to do it anymore. We need all the fastest people, no matter what country they’re from, to show up.’” Jefferson -Wooden added, “We’ve been used to seeing track and field on the Olympic stage or the world championship stage, but this gives it a different feel. It’s going to be giving it a different vibe. It’s very athlete-involved” (“Today,” NBC, 7/21).
AMERICAN RUNNERS: Lyles and Jefferson-Wooden are among the athletes scheduled to participate this week in the 2026 Toyota USATF Outdoor and Para National Championships. Live coverage from Icahn Stadium in N.Y. will air on NBC and Peacock on Saturday, July 25, at 2pm ET, and Sunday, July 26, at 4pm. Over the course of four days, NBC Sports will present a record 17 hours of live coverage -- the most ever for the USATF Outdoor Championships in a non-Olympic year. This is the first time since 1991 that N.Y. will host the event and the first time since 2019 that the meet has not been held at the Univ. of Oregon’s Hayward Field (NBC).
