The United States Ran the Second-Fastest Mixed Relay in History to Win the First Ultimate Championship Title Ever Awarded
Ronnie Baker, Anavia Battle, Courtney Lindsey and Kayla White clocked 39.64 seconds in Budapest to become the first World Athletics Ultimate champions.
The World Athletics Ultimate Championship is a new biennial invitational staged at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest from 11 to 13 September 2026. It carries a total purse of US$10 million, with $150,000 and a torch-shaped trophy for each winner and $75,000 for each runner-up. No medals are awarded. Track events are capped at sixteen entrants and field events at eight, with places filled by Olympic and world champions, Diamond League final winners and the world rankings.
The mixed 4x100m relay opened the programme on 11 September and produced the first title in the championship's history. The United States quartet of Ronnie Baker, Anavia Battle, Courtney Lindsey and Kayla White ran 39.64, the second-fastest time ever recorded over the distance and 0.02 outside the world record Jamaica set at the World Relays in Gaborone earlier in 2026.
Jamaica took second in 39.72 and Great Britain and Northern Ireland third in 40.26. Canada finished fourth in 40.34, ahead of Spain in 40.65, Germany in 40.85, hosts Hungary in 41.21 and the Netherlands in 41.31. The result reversed the World Relays placings of four months earlier, when the United States finished third behind Jamaica.
Baker, who ran the opening leg, said it was exciting to be the first ever Ultimate champions and that the trophy was amazing, adding that it was also pretty heavy and he would need to keep it away from his child.