Usain Bolt made it clear what he thinks about the World Athletics Ultimate Championship16:11, 11 Sep 2026Usain Bolt admitted his sadness that he'll miss out on the record-breaking prize money on offer at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship. The inaugural edition of the three-night track and field event commences on Friday at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest, Hungary.‌Featuring the world's best athletes such as Armand Duplantis, Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Britain's own Keely Hodgkinson, the championship has a total prize pot of £7.3million ($10m). Each individual winner will bank a £110k ($150k) payday, while second-place athletes will take home £55k ($75k).‌A third-place finish earns £29k ($40k), while relay teams compete for a shared top reward of £59k ($80k) to split amongst team-mates. It will include 13 individual events, each for men and women. It will also play host to two relay events, as well as the senior championship debut of the mixed 4x100m.‌Bolt may be approaching 10 years of retirement, but the eight-time Olympic gold medallist will be playing a role at the event in the form of a global ambassador. The Jamaican icon recalled a conversation he had with fellow sprinting legend, Asafa Powell, about the sizeable cash prizes on offer during the competition.The 40-year-old said: "I was chatting to Asafa before I came here and we were like: ‘Jeez, we missed out on a big cash prize'. I won a fair few championships and it still doesn’t add up to all that cash. I am sad I missed out on it, but I’m happy for the athletes."JOIN US ON FACEBOOK! All the best sports news and much more on our dedicated Facebook page‌The competition came to fruition through the efforts of World Athletics president, Sebastian Coe, and chief executive, Jon Ridgeon. Coe - a two-time Olympic champion - said they have plans to grow the reach of athletics across the world.He said: "We will deliver magnetic indelible moments that will travel around all four corners of the globe, and I think we will see a compelling glimpse into the future and the potential of this sport, which at its best is untouchable.‌"We also want this championship to be an incubator for change. As a proud Sheffielder, I would describe it as a blast furnace, ultimately shaping what our sport will look like going forward. And we want to take some of these innovations into the world championships and Olympic Games."Great Britain will have 22 athletes competing across the three days, with Olympic 800m champion Hodgkinson leading the way. She'll challenge track rivals Audrey Werro and Femke Broeders-Bol in the women's 800m.Article continues belowThe 24-year-old will be joined in Budapest by training partner Georgia Hunter Bell, who will hope to continue her hot streak across 2026 after the 1500m contender achieved European, Commonwealth and world indoor success.Four-time European champion Amy Hunt will battle the likes of Julien Alfred, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and Gabby Thomas in the 100m and 200m.