New championships, new calendar? What next for athletics after Tokyo

Next year, they will compete in Budapest as World Athletics hosts its three-day Ultimate Championships featuring world champions, Diamond League winners and the top performers of 2026 – and which offers a $10m (£7.5m) prize pot.

Earlier this year, the inaugural season of Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track – which excluded field events – ended with the final leg being cancelled because of financial concerns and its future appears in doubt with some athletes still yet to receive money.

Coe said World Athletics intend to use the Ultimate Championship to test ideas which could later become part of the sport’s established major stages.

“We’ve got a four-year cycle and one of those years we don’t get the billion eyeballs on our sport. As a global sport we can’t afford that,” said Coe.

“We thought about what we can do that is different and can be an incubator for change, where we can introduce and test things and maybe they turn up here in a World Championship.

“I think it will be it’ll be a great addition but there is a lot more work to do.”

Sporting icon Bolt, winner of eight Olympic gold medals, told BBC Sport he believes the Ultimate Championships is a “good start” as the sport seeks to grow.

“The sport needs to evolve and I feel like track and field is moving in the right direction,” Bolt said.

“Track and field is probably one of the poorest sports and it’s one of the biggest sports, so the incentive is very big and I’m happy for the athletes because they deserve it.”

Regarding the high level of performances witnessed in Tokyo, and increasing standards overall, Coe pinpointed technological advances in the synthetic track surface, the shoes worn by the athletes, and improving coaching skills and methods.

Coe said: “Some of the performances we’ve seen here are simply jaw-dropping.

“The lovely thing about it is that the sport is moving ahead both as track and field in pretty much the same progress.”

He added: “There’s never enough prize money for the athletes, we always want more. Where possible, we want the athletes to benefit from the proceeds of growth.”

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