Overview
- The Ultimate opens Friday in Budapest as a compressed, made-for-television three-night meet that will stage 28 events and use shortened rounds and straight finals to speed action.
- World Athletics has guaranteed a $10 million prize pot with $150,000 for each individual event winner and scaled payouts that pay every competing athlete.
- Organisers published a performance-based entry list of roughly 381 athletes from 65 federations but several high-profile names will not compete because of injury or scheduling choices.
- Headline act Armand 'Mondo' Duplantis is entered but his fitness is in question after withdrawing from the Brussels Diamond League final with leg tightness and other stars such as Noah Lyles and Tara Davis-Woodhall are absent.
- World Athletics says the Ultimate is meant to fill a competitive gap in non-Olympic years and to shift athlete calendars, sponsorship and broadcast models if the format and commercial approach succeed.