The Ultimate Championship event will be held in September in Budapest. It may very well be that no Finns can join.
The International Association of Athletics Federations WA Ultimate Championship event will be held in Budapest in September. Loosely translated into Finnish, it means “the ultimate championship”.
It is about such an extremely tough competition that not a single Finn may be able to participate.
– 0–3, estimates Iltalehti’s athletics expert Arto Bryggare as the number of Finns in the Hungarian capital.
The best 16 will be selected for sprints, the best 12 for 1,500 and 5,000 meters, and only the best eight for field sports.
Athletes are selected for the event based on the ranking list. The reigning Olympic champion and world champion have an automatic spot. In addition, the winner of the 2026 Diamond League final can join, if he is not included based on the ranking or the mandate of the defending champion.
They have seams
A new major event is organized in athletics. Illustration image. Jenni Gästgivar
The ranking point hunt started on September 2, 2025 and will end on September 1, 2026. So far, no Finn is going to Budapest based on the ranking.
– If Oliver Helander is healthy, he has stitches to join. Men’s javelin too With Toni Keränen there is a small chance, Bryggare estimates.
– In women’s fencing Wilma Heltelä is a complete puzzle. If he is in a fight, he can join. Elina Lampela there are also possibilities, but Wilma is closer to Budapest of the two, the expert continues.
The women’s shot put, which has become a favorite among Finns, is one of the sports that is not organized in Hungary. Men’s moukari is in the competition program.
Discus throw and shot put have been completely omitted from the three-day event.
Compared to the regular World Championships, Budapest kickers also lack matches, race walks, 10,000m runs, 3,000m steeplechase and the men’s triple jump. Among the relays, the 4×100 and 4×400 meter mixed races are on the program.
– There is no Finn on the running track who could join.
Along with the men’s javelin throwers and women’s pole vaulters, one possible name for the Budapest machine is the high jumper Ella Junnila. With his SE result of 197 centimeters, he was in joint seventh place in the world statistics for the 2024 season.
– Extremely unlikely, but possible, Bryggare announces.
How hard a blow is it to Finnish athletics if there are no blue-and-white athletes in Budapest?
– This season, Finnish athletics will be evaluated through the European Championships in Birmingham. The global value competition will continue to be an event where few and selected Finns can succeed, the expert answers.
Without a land quota
Oliver Helander is the most likely of the Finns to participate in Budapest. Jenni Gästgivar
The Ultimate Championship event should be held every other year in the future. The next event would therefore be scheduled for the Olympic year 2028. There is no decision on this yet.
– WA wants that every four years, when there are no World Cups or Olympics in the program, an event is organized for absolutely all the best. Now let’s try this kind of format. I consider this a very interesting project.
The special feature of the event is that there are no land quotas.
