BUDAPEST: Seasoned Scandinavian campaigners Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis and Jakob Ingebrigtsen shone on the opening day of the inaugural Ultimate Championship in Budapest on Friday.
With unmatched prize money totalling $10 million on offer over 28 disciplines, Duplantis and Ingebrigtsen walked away with $150,000 each for winning the men’s pole vault and 5,000 metres, respectively.
Pitched as a season-ending championship to bring together the best of the best, including 26 Olympic champions from the 2024 Paris Games, 26 world champions from Tokyo last year and 25 Diamond League winners from the 2026 season, the opening eight finals more than lived up to the hype.
US-born Swede Duplantis cleared 6.20 metres for victoryahead of Greek rival Emmanouil Karalis, while Norway’s Ingebrigtsen continued his comeback from injury with a stunning win in the 5,000m in 12:59.24, just the second time in his career he has gone sub-13min.
‘It was a really fun competition tonight. It was a little bit chilly, but I had a great time,’ said Duplantis.
Olympic champion Ingebrigtsen produced a devastating sprint down the home straight for victory over world champion Cole Hocker of the US (13:00.05).
‘I haven’t run too many 5,000m races this season, but it’s always good to be back competing,’ said Ingebrigtsen, who won his fourth successive European 5,000m title in Birmingham last month in what was his first race of the year following achilles surgery.
Two of this season’s world record holders, Masai Russell and Ja’Kobe Tharp, duly won their short hur-dles races.
Russell, fresh from running a pace-setting 12.09sec in Brussels, reeled in the 100m hurdles field after a sluggish start for victory in 12.22sec ahead of Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan, in 12.34sec.
Russell’s US team-mate Tharp, who set a world record of 12.75 seconds in June, edged world champion Cordell Tinch by one-hundredth of a second for a 110m hurdles victory in 12.94 seconds.
The first title of the first night of action went to the United States in the 4x100m mixed relay, giving them a shared pot of $80,000.
The quartet of Ronnie Baker, Anavia Battle, Courtney Lindsey and Kayla White clocked 39.64 seconds ahead of world record holders Jamaica (39.72) and Britain (40.26), rounding out the podium.
Germany’s world silver medallist Merlin Hummel was the surprise winner of the men’s hammerthrow, with the infield painted black.
His best of 81.46m was enough to set himself up as a clear victor over Hungary’s European champion Bence Halasz (80.30).
Olympic, world and Commonwealth champion Ethan Katzberg of Canada missed out on a podium after two opening nomarks that saw him promptly eliminated from the competition.
The field in the women’s high jump was quickly narrowed down to a showdown between Ukraine’s world record holder Yaroslava Mahuchikh and Australian Nicola Olyslagers.
Olympic champion Mahuchikh cleared 1.99m for the win, while world champion Olyslagers could only manage 1.95m in the chilly conditions.
Italy’s Larissa Iapichino wrapped up the women’s long jump with a best of 6.90m.-AFP