On Monday, World Athletics unveiled plans for a brand new biennial occasion to happen throughout non-world championship/Olympic years, and serving as a profitable end-of-season finale. The World Final Championships can be a revolutionary international occasion designed to redefine the athletics calendar and crown the very best of the very best in athletics. This final championship will carry collectively world champions, Olympic champions, Diamond League winners and the yr’s top-performing athletes to compete for the highest prize of USD $150,000.
The World Athletics Final Championship is launching in 2026 🔥
With a prize pot of $10m, it will likely be the very best in monitor and discipline historical past 💥
Standout particulars:
🇭🇺 The primary version can be in Budapest (11-13 September, 2026)
🗓️ The final word championship can be held each… pic.twitter.com/tdKiyvSLqt— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) June 3, 2024
In Sept. 2026, Budapest will play host to the inaugural World Final Championships, a three-day occasion boasting a $10 million prize purse. This “finest vs. finest” competitors will characteristic the highest 16 athletes from the 2026 season competing in a monitor semi-finals and finals format, whereas the highest eight athletes in discipline occasions (throwing and leaping) will battle it out within the discipline finals. Every occasion winner will pocket USD $150,000—the very best quantity of prize cash supplied at a monitor and discipline championship—with further prize cash distributed to the eight finalists. This substantial monetary incentive goals to raise the game and appeal to the world’s high athletes.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe mentioned in a press launch: “That is about the very best of the very best; solely 400 athletes from about 70 international locations. We would like this to look completely different, we would like this to really feel completely different (than a World Championships).” Coe’s imaginative and prescient for the World Athletics Final Championship is to ship excessive motion and pleasure for followers. “We need to characteristic the most important stars and make it a must-watch international sporting occasion.”
Designed to captivate hundreds of thousands of tv viewers worldwide, the championship will characteristic a compact three-day athletics schedule, with every night session lasting underneath three hours. The format consists of semi-finals and finals for monitor occasions, and straight finals for discipline occasions, guaranteeing an exciting and fast-paced competitors. Based on World Athletics, athletes won’t compete for his or her sponsors, however as a substitute for his or her nationwide groups, including an additional layer of delight and pleasure to the competitors.
World Athletics report card: how did Budapest carry out at World Championships?
The press launch reveals that the final word occasion will embrace the standard dash disciplines, center and long-distance races, relays, jumps and throws. The longer term hosts past the inaugural World Athletics Final Championship in Budapest haven’t been introduced.
