A number of this year’s Wanda Diamond League champions were among the very first title winners at the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest this weekend.
A week on from the 2026 Wanda Diamond League Final in Brussels, the world’s best athletes had another chance to win an international title at the new event in Hungary.
A total of 10 athletes completed a historic Diamond League and Ultimate Championship double, winning both major titles on offer in 2026.
US sprinter Kenny Bednarek swept to both the 100m and 200m titles in Budapest after winning the Diamond Trophy for the third time over 200m in Brussels.
Brazilian 400m hurdler Alison Dos Santos broke the 46-second barrier for the second time in three weeks after breaking the world record at the Diamond League meeting in Zurich.
Masai Russell, who also set a new world record in Zurich, followed up on her stunning Diamond League season with another title win in the women’s 100m hurdles.
Her fellow sprint hurdler and world record breaker Ja’Kobe Tharp also got a second title under his best after winning his first senior global gong in the 110m hurdles in Brussels.
Swiss star Audrey Werro cemented her status as the world number one in the women’s 800m, after a season which saw her break the Diamond League record three times.
After a surprise win at the Diamond League Final, Poland’s Klaudia Kazimierska also underlined her new position as the best 1500m runner in the world.
Having become Sri Lanka’s first ever Diamond League champion in the men’s javelin in Brussels, Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage threw over 90 metres once again in Budapest to win a first title at a World Athletics championship event.
Likewise, triple jumper Saly Sarr followed up a historic first Diamond League title for Senegal with an equally unprecedented win at the Ultimate Championship.
400m stars Collen Kebinatshipi and Marileidy Paulino ended their seasons on a high after both storming to an unbeaten title-winning season in the Diamond League.
A number of other athletes also won the Ultimate title after enjoying success in the Diamond League this season.
Britain’s Josh Kerr ended his season with the 1500m title, two months after breaking the world record in the men’s mile at the Diamond League meeting in London.
Five-time Diamond League champion Mondo Duplantis also bounced back in Budapest after he was forced to pull out of the final in Brussels with a muscle strain.
Four-time Diamond Trophy winner Jakob Ingebrigtsen won his first global title in two years after returning to the international stage in the Diamond League this season.
Other former Diamond League champions who triumphed in Budapest included Yaroslava Mahuchikh, Haruka Kitaguchi and Larissa Iapichino.
