BUDAPEST, Hungary (AFP) — The inaugural Ultimate Championship in Budapest worked “pretty well”, according to World Athletics President Sebastian Coe, who hailed the “uniquely positive” feedback from athletes.

Coe had dubbed the three-day Ultimate, bringing together 381 athletes from 65 federations in competition for unmatched prize money totalling $10 million, as an “incubator for change”.

An all-black in-field, a long jump pit filled with pink sand, enhanced graphics and quick-fire coverage unashamedly aimed for television, and particularly a younger audience, were all features of the flashy new competition.

“At first inspection, and it’s early, it seems in large part to have worked pretty well,” Coe told journalists in Budapest.

“The athletes have been uniquely positive. At first perusal I think we’re in decent shape.

“We are an innately conservative sport and I just think we’ve moved slightly away from the risk-adverse end of that spectrum — not probably by much, but it’s a start.”

Coe added that there had been a “really good vibe” at three sell-out evenings of action and the competition looked “less last week”.

Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt claimed 19 global titles in a storied career, but said he wished the kind of prize money on offer at the Ultimate Championship had been available when he was competing.

“It’s big,” said Bolt. “It’s good for the sport and it incentivises athletes to come out here and do the best, to show up and to be ready.”

Jamaica’s Ackelia Smith competes in the women’s triple jump final during the World Athletics Ultimate Championship on September 13, 2026. (Photo: AFP)

The Ultimate pitched 26 Olympic champions from the 2024 Paris Games against 26 World champions from Tokyo last year and 25 Diamond League winners from the 2026 season.

“It’s a good step, a first step to changing track and field for the better,” said Bolt. “I think the athletes are loving it. It’s a different energy, a different vibe.”

With 28 disciplines delivered in a fast-paced, made-for-television format, Coe described the current crop of athletes as one “for the ages”.

“For the last two or three years, I’ve sensed that we’ve now got a far broader bandwidth of talent across all our disciplines.”

The 2028 edition of the Ultimate will follow the July 14-30 Los Angeles Olympics, Coe confirmed.

“Where at all possible, we wanted our world championships and now the Ultimate to be the denouement of the season,” he said.

“That’s important and again the athletes have welcomed that.”

Coe entertained more than 20 International Olympic Committee members in Budapest as well as federation presidents of rowing, table tennis and volleyball.

“We all learn from each other,” he said. “Not everybody that watches the 100m wants all of the 100m. That’s how much it’s changed.”

There were ringing endorsements for the Ultimate from athletes in Budapest.

Kenneth Bednarek (second right) of the United States wins ahead of Jamaica’s Oblique Seville (right) in the men’s 100m final during the World Athletics Ultimate Championship at Gyula Zsivotzky National Athletics Centre, in Budapest, Hungary, on September 12, 2026. Also pictured are Ronnie Baker (left) of the United States and Letsile Tebogo of Botswana. (Photo: AFP)

“They have built a great show and it has a different kind of vibe. I love it,” said Norway’s 400m hurdler Karsten Warholm.

Men’s 100m and 200m champion Kenny Bednarek added that “everything is a little bit more exciting than at the World Championships”.

“This event is awesome and it is cool that World Athletics has $10m to invest into its athletes. I want it to be the prize for every championships!” said American Nikki Hiltz, third in the women’s 1,500m.

There was some concern pre-competition about the field events, with no place for shot put, discus or women’s hammer throw.

“The championship is worse off for not having the other field events,” said Britain’s Jazmin Sawyers, second in the women’s long jump.

Sawyers added, however, that the event had been a “wow moment” for her and she would use her prize money of $75,000 to finance another year in the sport and buy a new sewing machine.

Coe acknowledged that the choice to cut some events had been tough.

“There was some nervousness going in about what it was going to mean for us, inevitable discussions that some disciplines are not there,” he said.

“But that’s not set in tablets of stone; it could look different next time.”