A bright pink sandpit and a pitch black infield. A brand new trophy and historic prize money. The World Athletics Ultimate Championship is posed as something different in the sport, but some things stay the same - pole vault star Armand Duplantis taking centre stage. As the inaugural competition's official song, which two-time Olympic champion Duplantis wrote and recorded, was played to a sell-out crowd of more than 20,000, all eyes fell on the Swedish 26-year-old as, yet again, it was just him against the world record.

Duplantis had already secured the title of inaugural champion in the event he has long dominated, and his $150,000 (£110,000) slice of the record $10m (£7.4m) prize pot on offer. While he was unable to clear 6.32m and set the 16th world record of his remarkable career, an entertaining battle with Greek challenger Emmanouil Karalis provided the blockbuster finale to the opening night in Budapest.

"I approached this event with a combination of a lot of nerves and excitement," said Duplantis. "This was a missing piece for me to become the ultimate champion." The condensed three-day format will see the world's best athletes go head-to-head across an innovative format which governing body World Athletics and its president Lord Coe hope can shape the sport's future.

Friday's session featured eight finals over three hours and brought victories for several global stars including Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Yaroslava Mahuchikh and Masai Russell. Great Britain's Keely Hodgkinson, Georgia Hunter Bell, Amy Hunt and Matthew Hudson-Smith will be among those hoping to land the sport's newest global prize on Saturday.