First day of World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest
Athletics' biggest names go head-to-head over three days as inaugural championship aims to capture new generation of fans with bold new look
Event winners will pocket $150,000 (£110,000) each with total prize fund of $10m (£7.4m)
Swedish great Armand Duplantis crowned inaugural pole vault champion
Norwegian star Jakob Ingebrigtsen surges to men's 5,000m title
GB's Keely Hodgkinson plus Audrey Werro & Femke Broeders-Bol all through to Saturday's 800m final
Women's 400m semi-finals
So close!
Yemi Mary John is pushing and pushing down the home straight but just runs out of track as she closes in on the top four.
The 23-year-old clocks 50.38 seconds for fifth, as Dominican Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino takes the win in 49.58 ahead of Olympic silver medallist Salwa Eid Naser.
Tough heat for John, and that won't be enough to see her progress.
Women's 400m semi-finals
So, Matthew Hudson-Smith is safely through to the men's 400m final tomorrow night.
Now, can British team-mate Yemi Mary John force her way into the women's event?
She goes in the first heat alongside some of the discipline's heavyweights including Marileidy Paulino.
Image source, Getty ImagesAthletics has long grappled with the issue of retaining the attention and excitement which the sport generates at the Olympics throughout those four-year cycles.
Because of the disruption caused by the pandemic, each of the past five years have provided a pinnacle event which gathered the biggest stars in front of a global audience.
But, for many top British athletes, a 2026 season centred around a Commonwealth Games and European Championship on home soil would probably have ended at the Diamond League Final.
"It is an attempt to just start experimenting a bit and innovating, with an event that will determine who really is the best of the best," World Athletics president Sebastian Coe told BBC Sport.
"There's no guarantee we're going get everything right, and no guarantee that everything is going to work. In two years, we might look at a slightly different format.
"I also want to be able to put some of the things we're doing into the World Championship format. We have a responsibility to try and engage new young audiences."
Men's 400m semi-finals
He can! Matthew Hudson-Smith crosses the line in second, behind fast-finishing American Jacory Patterson.
It's 44.79 seconds for European champion Hudson-Smith, who got out fast and held on well in the closing stages.
That's the sixth-quickest across the two semi-finals. Don't miss that final tomorrow night.
Image source, PA MediaMen's 400m semi-finals
Botswana's season-leader Collen Kebinatshipi makes a statement in the first men's 400m semi-final, taking the win in 44.23 seconds.
Now, can Matthew Hudson-Smith book his place in tomorrow's final?
Top four to go through...
We'd love to hear your thoughts on all of this as we journey through tonight's session.
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Many of the events at the Ultimate Championship will be contested as straight finals.
For those few disciplines which require a semi-final round, including the 400m, it is simply the top four in the two heats who qualify for the final.
Men's 400m semi-finals
Image source, Getty ImagesFresh off the back of becoming the most decorated man in the history of the European Athletics Championships, Matthew Hudson-Smith is aiming to translate continental dominance into global glory.
In an emotional, full-circle moment, the 31-year-old celebrated the third European 400m title of his illustrious career, and eighth medal at the championships overall, on his childhood track in Birmingham, in front of a stand named in his honour.
The sixth-fastest man of all time in the one-lap event, Hudson-Smith missed out on global titles by mere fractions of a second at the World Championships in 2023 and Paris 2024 Olympics.
The Briton goes into this as the sixth-fastest in the competition with a season's best of 44.09 seconds. Botswana's Collen Kebinatshipi leads the way with 43.40.
Emma Middleton
BBC Sport in Budapest
I was sat in the stadium for the half hour or so before the action got under way. Here are the headlines.
Usain Bolt walked out to Bob Marley’s ‘One Love’. That got the crowd going.
We’ve heard ‘Freed from Desire’, as is customary with sports events. From a live DJ too.
The women’s high jumpers have been warming up. There is a nip in the air, those layers will be staying on.
The little robot cars have had a run out. Watch out for them darting around the black in-field during field events.
Oh, and there’s a ‘selfie cam’ - occasionally lingering on fans for a little too long. Awkward but a bit of fun, and that’s what it’s all about, hey?
Image source, Reuters
Image source, Getty ImagesWorld Athletics have tried to ensure that this will not look like any other athletics event before it.
Probably the first thing you will notice is the jet-black infield. This is designed to steer focus to the ongoing action, with only the active competition areas highlighted in contrast. In the throws, javelins and hammers will light up against the dark background.
For TV viewers, there will be new features including the use of augmented reality, athlete headshots, win probabilities and projected finishing positions.
They have also sought to go big on entertainment. Over the weekend, pole vault star Mondo Duplantis will perform the official song of the championship among the live acts, while American sprinter Noah Lyles - ruled out by injury - will act as host. Centre-court style interviews will follow each event.
Instead of the usual medals for first, second and third, only the Ultimate champions will receive a trophy, which will be waiting for them to collect on a plinth at the end of their event.
BBC Two
You can watch live coverage of all the action on the opening night in Budapest live on BBC Two, and at the top of this page.
Image source, Getty ImagesThe Ultimate features a condensed three-night schedule, held as three-hour sessions.
This is an event reserved for reigning Olympic, world and Diamond League champions, plus athletes who have qualified by world ranking.
However, a few star names who did not qualify were granted invitations, including GB's Josh Kerr and Norwegian rival Jakob Ingebrigtsen into the men's 1500m.
There will be a total of 28 finals, with straight finals in all field events and both the 1500m and the 5,000m. The 800m and shorter distances will have semi-finals.
Not every discipline has been included, however. Based on World Athletics research into viewer behaviour, long distance events like the 3,000m steeplechase and 10,000m, and field events including the shot put and discus, were left out.
World Athletics is providing "the richest prize pot in the history of the sport" with a total of $10m (£7.4m) to be won, and, in addition to lifting their trophy, each event winner will pocket $150,000 (£110,000).
Colin Jackson
Two-time world 110m hurdles champion on BBC Two
It would have been nice to start with a world record!
It's a good, competitive race. It's a new event for the athletes, they don't have much time to practice, so they don't get the opportunity to combine and test the speeds they're coming in and out of.
It's exciting, competitive, and it's the first time we're not talking about medals, we're talking about cash!
That's $80,000 for the United States, $40,000 for Jamaica, and $24,000 for Great Britain.
Mixed 4x100m relay
Well, the win prediction was right!
It is third for Great Britain in 40.26 seconds, behind a battle for the trophy between the USA and Jamaica.
It's the USA who take victory in the first ever final at the Ultimate Championship in 39.64, with Jamaica a close second in 39.72.
There's no medals for the top three here. Only the victors get their hands on a trophy!
Image source, Getty ImagesMixed 4x100m relay
The mixed 4x100m relay kicks the action off on the track.
Great Britain have a quartet featuring Romell Glave, Imani-Lara Lansiquot, Jeremiah Azu, Success Eduan, and are predicted to finish third in this straight final.
Let's see how accurate those predictions might be this evening...
Away they go!
Image source, Getty ImagesThere are eight finals to come on the opening night:
Image source, Getty ImagesOne trophy, no medals. Ten million dollars. A red carpet. A black infield. Noah Lyles as MC. Armand Duplantis performing his new record, while aiming to break another.
This athletics season was set to be the first since the pandemic which did not culminate in an Olympic Games or World Championships.
To bridge that gap, the sport's governing body has devised a new competition: The World Athletics Ultimate Championship.
Across three days of competition in Budapest, live on the BBC, the world's top athletes will compete for record prize money and a new title.
This innovative, biennial format is bankrolled by World Athletics - and president Sebastian Coe says he hopes to use it as an "incubator for change" which will shape the future of the sport's established major championships.
Is it the dawn of a new age for athletics?
Well, not quite. But this is a major first step by World Athletics as it seeks to shape the sport's future.
Over the next three nights in Budapest, the world's top athletes will compete to become the Ultimate champion and win their share or a record $10m prize pot.
For all of us watching, things are going to look rather different, and we will get into all of that very shortly.
For now, welcome along to the first World Athletics Ultimate Championship!
Image source, Getty Images