BUDAPEST, HUNGARY - SEPTEMBER 11: Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Team Norway crosses the finish line to win the Men's 5000 Metres Final during Day 1 of the World Athletics Ultimate Championship at National Athletics Centre on September 11, 2026 in Budapest, Hungary. (Photo by Mattia Ozbot/World Athletics via Getty Images)
The first eight champions were crowned on a thrilling night of action as the World Athletics Ultimate Championship Budapest 26 got underway yesterday.
Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen timed his kick to perfection to win the men’s 5000m, clocking 12:59.24 to deny world champion Cole Hocker.
He waited and waited, only changing gears with 100m to run, but when Jakob Ingebrigtsen went for it, the effect was simply devastating. The reigning Olympic champion unleashed a 12.60-second last 100m to take the 5000m glory.
The Norwegian superstar clocked a 54.39-second last lap and 2:25 last kilometre, with world champion Hocker finishing several metres adrift in second in 13:00.05 and USA’s Parker Wolfe third in 13:00.13.
“I haven’t run too many 5000m races this year, or too many races at all, so I was a bit nervous,” said Ingebrigtsen, who added the Ultimate Championship title to his one Olympic, two world and four European titles over 5000m. He will now turn his focus to the 1500m on Sunday, where he will square off with Hocker and 2023 world champion Josh Kerr.
“Not many weeks ago I was telling my team that the 2026 season is far gone, but then it started to get a little bit better. Eventually I got my momentum going. I have gained a lot from the races in the last couple of weeks and I was running smoother and smoother.
“Being injured, I was fearing the worst outcome and did not know if I would be able to run at all, especially at this level,” he added. “This is amazing, I am extremely happy.”
Mondo Duplantis cleared 6.20m to add another pole vault title to his remarkable collection.Vaulting to the sounds of his own song Gold, the Ultimate Anthem which he wrote and recorded, Duplantis achieved a perfect scorecard up to his winning height and went on to attempt a world record of 6.32m.
That would have been his 16th world record and while it wasn’t to be on a chilly Friday evening at the Gyula Zsivotzky National Athletics Centre, the 26-year-old had the title secured – adding the Ultimate crown to his two Olympic titles, three world gold medals and four world indoor wins.
Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis fought hard in an attempt to beat him, soaring clear at 6.15m, but that remained his best and so the recent Diamond League champion finished second ahead of Norway’s Sondre Guttormsen (5.95m). Guttormsen finished third on countback as he cleared the same height as Kurtis Marschall and Zach Bradford, making it just the second competition in history, and the first outdoors, in which five athletes cleared 5.95m or higher.
“I approached this event with a combination of a lot of nerves and excitement,” said Duplantis. “This was a missing piece for me, to become the Ultimate champion.
“With Manolo (Karalis), I just want to give a huge shout-out to him and his team, and give a big hats-off for what they accomplished throughout this year. Pole vault is always the most exicting event out there but it is totally different now.
“I’m going to sing the anthem (Gold) on Sunday, so now I will be enjoying the city and getting some sleep.”
Fellow world record-holder Yaroslava Mahuchikh won a second global title in the Hungarian capital, soaring to the inaugural high jump crown in a height of 1.99m.
The Olympic champion only had one failure up to her winning height and she went on to take three attempts at 2.04m – a mark that would have added a centimetre to her own world lead.
In a battle between the reigning Olympic and world champions, Australia’s Nicola Olyslagers finished second on 1.95m. Australia’s recent Diamond League champion Eleanor Patterson and Serbia’s world bronze medallist Angelina Topić placed joint third on 1.91m.
Back at the scene of her world title win in 2023, Mahuchikh opened her campaign at 1.91m and cleared that and 1.95m on her first attempts. She needed two tries at 1.99m but was confirmed the champion when Olyslagers was unable to make it over that bar.
The 24-year-old, who cleared 2.03m on home soil indoors in January, couldn’t make it over 2.04m this time but it didn’t matter – her title was secured.
“I am so proud to be in the history of world athletics,” said Mahuchikh. “This is the first Ultimate Championship and I am the first Ultimate champion – I am so happy.”
Olympic champion and world record holder Masai Russell capped a sensational season by winning the women’s 100m hurdles in 12.22, while US compatriot Ja’Kobe Tharp won the men’s 110m hurdles by an incredibly close margin in 12.94.
Elsewhere, sprints powerhouse USA won the mixed 4x100m in 39.64 – the second-fastest time in history. Germany’s Merlin Hummel defeated multiple global champion Ethan Katzberg and world leader Bence Halász to win the men’s hammer with 81.46m, and Italy’s Larissa Iapichino earned the biggest victory of her career to date by winning the women’s long jump with 6.90m.
