<\/p>\n
\u2022 VIDEO | SUMMARY OF THE FIRST DAY OF ULTIMATE CHAMPIONSHIP<\/p>\n
\u2022 VIDEO | SUMMARY OF THE SECOND DAY OF ULTIMATE CHAMPIONSHIP<\/p>\n
Ultimate Championship Budapest 2026 arrives today, Sunday, September 13, at its third and final day<\/strong> with two Spaniards still in competition. Marta Garc\u00eda will contest the final of the 5000 metres (at 19:10)<\/strong>, while Ja\u00ebl Bestu\u00e9 will tackle the semifinals of the 200 metres at 18:58 with the aim of earning a place in the main final that will almost close the championship<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Pero hay otro gran aliciente en esta jornada definitiva: Kenny Bednarek y Melissa Jefferson-Wooden son los \u00fanicos atletas que pueden abandonar Budapest con dos t\u00edtulos individuales<\/strong>. Ambos ganaron el s\u00e1bado los 100 metros \u2014Bednarek con 9.85 y Jefferson-Wooden con 10.62\u2014 y este domingo atacar\u00e1n tambi\u00e9n el oro en los 200. Si lo consiguen, cada uno acumular\u00e1 300.000 d\u00f3lares<\/strong>, ya que World Athletics paga 150.000 d\u00f3lares al vencedor de cada prueba individual.<\/p>\n Otros atletas aspiraban inicialmente a un doblete. Rai Benjamin<\/strong>, por ejemplo, compite en 400 y 400 metros vallas, pero ya no puede ganar las dos pruebas tras terminar segundo en la vuelta a la pista, en la que se impuso Collen Kebinatshipi <\/strong>con 43.39. Y Jakob Ingebrigtsen<\/strong>, ganador el viernes de los 5000 metros, ha renunciado finalmente al 1500. El noruego explic\u00f3 que, tras su operaci\u00f3n del tend\u00f3n de Aquiles y su reciente regreso a la competici\u00f3n, prefiere no afrontar dos carreras tan exigentes con apenas dos d\u00edas de diferencia.<\/p>\n The women\u2019s 5000 metres final will have a distinctly Ethiopian flavor. No fewer than six of the twelve participants are Ethiopian, led by the world leader Likina Amebaw<\/strong>, who this season has run 14:18.41, and by Freweyni Hailu<\/strong>, the recent Diamond League champion in the distance.<\/p>\n Amebaw, Hailu, Aleshign Baweke, Senayet Getachew, Fantaye Belayneh e Hirut Meshesha conforman un equipo de enorme profundidad. Hailu llegar\u00e1 adem\u00e1s a la prueba despu\u00e9s de haber disputado el s\u00e1bado los 1500 metros (cuarta con 3:58.44).<\/p>\n Entre quienes tratar\u00e1n de romper el dominio et\u00edope aparecen la australiana Rose Davies<\/strong>, campeona de los Juegos de la Commonwealth en 5000 y 10.000 metros, su compatriota Jessica Hull<\/strong>, la estadounidense Shelby Houlihan<\/strong> y una Marta Garc\u00eda<\/strong> que vuelve a medirse con la \u00e9lite mundial despu\u00e9s de una temporada en la que ha consolidado su posici\u00f3n entre las mejores fondistas europeas. La espa\u00f1ola, plata continental en Birmingham tras Nadia Battocletti<\/strong>, se col\u00f3 en el top ten de los 5000 metros del \u00faltimo Mundial (s\u00e9ptima en Tokio 2025 en una carrera en la que Rose Davies finaliz\u00f3 d\u00e9cima).<\/p>\n The other Spanish representative will be Ja\u00ebl Bestu\u00e9<\/strong>, who must first get through the semifinals of the 200 metres. The event features an exceptional lineup headed by Melissa Jefferson-Wooden<\/strong> and Gabby Thomas<\/strong>, who will meet for the first time this season. World champion Jefferson-Wooden arrives with 21.69 as her best mark among the competitors, while Thomas appears as the reigning Olympic champion.<\/p>\n Jefferson-Wooden also has the opportunity to complete a spectacular 100-200 double after her Saturday display. In 2025 she won both head-to-heads against Thomas, although the half-lap field presents many more contenders and the first hurdle will be to get through semifinals in which only the top four from each heat advance to the final.<\/p>\n Bestu\u00e9 will be precisely in the semifinal opposite to Jefferson-Wooden and Thomas. It is worth noting that the race features figures such as Amy Hunt<\/strong>, Anavia Battle<\/strong>, Shaunae Miller-Uibo<\/strong>, Rhasidat Adeleke<\/strong>, Torrie Lewis<\/strong> or Success Eduan<\/strong>.<\/p>\n If there is one man to beat in the 200 metres, it is Kenny Bednarek<\/strong>. The American arrives on a high after capturing the 100 metres title and after dominating the half-lap for much of the season.<\/p>\n Bednarek is the 2026 world leader with 19.62<\/strong>, a mark he first achieved in Zurich and later equaled in the Diamond League final in Brussels. In Budapest he will not only try to confirm his status as the year\u2019s number one but also to move closer to his personal best.<\/p>\n The main obstacle, at first glance, will be Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo<\/strong>, but the semifinal lineup will be outstanding. Sinesipho Dambile, Bryan Levell, Alexander Ogando, Andre De Grasse, Makanakaishe Charamba or Courtney Lindsey are also among the contenders for the eight final spots.<\/p>\n A victory would crown Bednarek as Ultimate champion in both the 100 and the 200, and would raise his total prize money to 300.000 dollars<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The withdrawal of Jakob Ingebrigtsen<\/strong> prevents one of the championship\u2019s most anticipated clashes: a new face-off with Josh Kerr<\/strong>. The Norwegian won Friday\u2019s 5000 metres, but has ultimately decided not to double in the 1500. The race, nonetheless, remains a world-final level event. Kerr<\/strong>, world mile record holder and world leader in the 1500 with 3:27.62, begins as one of the major favorites. Standing against him will be, among others, Cole Hocker<\/strong>, Cameron Myers<\/strong>, Phanuel Koech<\/strong>, Yared Nuguse<\/strong>, Jake Wightman<\/strong>, Timothy Cheruiyot<\/strong>, Azeddine Habz<\/strong> and Isaac Nader<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Myers and Koech arrive after occupying the first two places in the Diamond League final, while Hocker will look to redeem his modest seventh place in Brussels, though his legs will be somewhat rested after the effort he carried out on Friday to secure second place in the 5000 metres with 13:00.05 in a race where Jakob Ingebrigtsen crushed all his rivals.<\/p>\n The program also offers several highly interesting clashes. In the men\u2019s javelin<\/strong>, the season\u2019s standout, Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage<\/strong>, arrives as world leader with 92.62 metres and after winning both the Diamond League and the Commonwealth Games. His main threat could be the German Julian Weber<\/strong>, European champion and also over 90 metres this year. They are joined by champions such as Arshad Nadeem<\/strong>, Keshorn Walcott<\/strong> and Anderson Peters<\/strong>.<\/p>\n In the women\u2019s triple jump<\/strong>, the Diamond League champion Saly Sarr<\/strong> will face the Cubans Leyanis P\u00e9rez Hern\u00e1ndez<\/strong> and Davisleydi Velazco<\/strong>, in addition to the Olympic champion and world leader Thea LaFond<\/strong>, who this year has reached 15.25 metres.<\/p>\n The men\u2019s high jump<\/strong> is presented as a much more open event, a discipline that has shared a season without a clear dominator. The European champion Gianmarco Tamberi<\/strong>, the world leader JuVaughn Harrison<\/strong>, and the surprising Diamond League winner Mateusz Kolodziejski<\/strong> appear among the candidates for the year\u2019s final major title.<\/p>\n The day also includes the finals of the men\u2019s and women\u2019s 400 metres hurdles<\/strong> (Dos Santos, Warholm and Benjamin for the men; Zapletalov\u00e1, Jones and Cockrell for the women), the men\u2019s 800 metres final<\/strong> \u2014no Mohamed Attaoui, eliminated yesterday in the semifinals\u2014 and the mixed 4\u00d7400<\/strong>, where the United States and Jamaica stand as two of the main references.<\/p>\n It will be the final act of three intense days in Budapest. And with two Spaniards still in action, two possible 300,000-dollar doubles, and some of the world\u2019s biggest athletics stars contesting the last titles, the Ultimate Championship 2026<\/strong> still holds several of its major showpieces for the end, including the retirement from athletics of one of the legends of the 400 metres hurdles, Dalilah Muhammad<\/strong>.<\/p>\nMarta Garc\u00eda, ante el poder\u00edo et\u00edope en los 5000 metros<\/h2>\n
Ja\u00ebl Best\u00fae busca la final de los 200 metros<\/h2>\n
Bednarek quiere los 300.000 d\u00f3lares<\/h2>\n
The 1500 loses Ingebrigtsen, but retains an extraordinary lineup<\/h2>\n
Javelin, high jump and triple jump, finals of the highest level<\/h2>\n
VIDEO | THE SECOND DAY\u2019S DISCUSSION PANEL<\/h2>\n