One trophy, no medals. Ten million dollars. A red carpet. A black infield. Noah Lyles as MC. Armand Duplantis singing before eyeing another world record. This athletics season was set to be the first since the pandemic without an Olympics or World Championships. To bridge that gap, the sport's governing body devised a new competition: The World Athletics Ultimate Championship.

Across three days in Budapest, live on the BBC from 11-13 September, top athletes will compete for record prize money and a new title. Last year, Michael Johnson's Grand Slam Track league ended after financial issues. This biennial format is bankrolled by World Athletics - president Sebastian Coe hopes it will be an "incubator for change" shaping future World Championships.

The Ultimate features a condensed three-night schedule. It is reserved for reigning Olympic, world and Diamond League champions, plus qualifiers by world ranking. Some stars received exceptional invitations, including Great Britain's Josh Kerr and Norwegian rival Jakob Ingebrigtsen into the men's 1500m. There are 28 finals. World Athletics provides "the richest prize pot in the history of the sport" - $10m total. Each winner gets $150,000. Many big names support the event. Duplantis, the inaugural 'Ultimate Star', wrote and performed the official anthem, Gold.