Amusan Strikes Gold! Nigerian Star Claims Ultimate Championship in Budapest!

Nigeria's Tobi Amusan achieved a notable second-place finish in the women's 100m hurdles at the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship held in Budapest, Hungary. Amusan clocked 12.34 seconds in the final, securing a prize of $75,000 (approximately N100m). She finished behind American Olympic champion Masai Russell, who claimed victory with a time of 12.22 seconds, extending her impressive 2026 season.

Masai Russell's exceptional performance in 2026 includes breaking Amusan's world record in Zurich with a remarkable time of 12.09 seconds and winning her first Diamond League title. Russell was identified by World Athletics as the athlete to beat coming into Budapest, arriving unbeaten. The individual winner of the Ultimate Championship event received $150,000, part of the record $10 million prize purse established by World Athletics for the three-day championship.

The Ultimate Championship, which took place from September 11 to 13, is a new biennial event designed to gather Olympic and world champions, Diamond League winners, and leading performers of the season to crown the sport's ultimate champions. The event featured around 400 athletes competing in 26 individual events and two mixed relays at the Budapest National Athletics Centre.

Amusan's journey to the final saw her finish second in her semi-final with a time of 12.49 seconds, narrowly edged by Bahamas' Devynne Charlton who won in 12.45 seconds, but enough to secure an automatic qualifying spot. Russell, meanwhile, entered the final as the leading contender after winning her semi-final in 12.38 seconds. The final race provided another high-stakes encounter between these two leading figures, following Russell's record-breaking performance in Zurich and her Diamond League victory in Brussels, where Amusan had previously finished fourth.

Earlier in the championship, Nigeria's Ella Onojuvwevwo competed in the women's 400m. She finished sixth in her semi-final, clocking 50.50 seconds. This placed her behind Dominican Republic Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino (49.58 seconds) and Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser (49.67 seconds). Despite missing out on the final, Onojuvwevwo concluded her season with another sub-51-second performance against a field featuring some of the world's best quarter-milers.