Great Britain have confirmed a team of 22 athletes for the championship, including Olympic 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson.

Hodgkinson will expect to be reunited with rivals Audrey Werro and Femke Broeders-Bol in the final, should they all safely progress from tonight's semi-finals which are just over half an hour away.

Georgia Hunter Bell contests the 1500m seeking a fourth major title of 2026 following European, Commonwealth and world indoor success.

After winning four European titles, Amy Hunt races against global champions including Julien Alfred, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and Gabby Thomas in the 100m and 200m.

Mile world record holder Josh Kerr is joined by fellow former world champion Jake Wightman in a stacked men's 1500m featuring his fierce rival Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Olympic champion Cole Hocker.

European gold and silver medallists Romell Glave and Jeremiah Azu contest the men's 100m alongside Jamaica's world champion Oblique Seville.

Steve Backley
Two-time world and Olympic javelin silver medallist on BBC TV

Emmanouil Karalis is on fire.

What I love about it is that he's changed the whole dynamic of the event. For the last five years or so, it was just expected for Mondo to rock up, get a height, take the win.

Image source, Getty Images

Emma Middleton
BBC Sport in Budapest

If you want a slice of the finish line elation - or frustration - you have to pay for it.

The most expensive tickets in the Gyula Zsivotzky National Athletics Centre are the finish line seats. They’ll set you back about 69,000 HUF (£163) for a day ticket.

But there’s a range. Category 5 tickets come in at 10,000 HUF, or about £23.

Maybe that saves you a little bit extra to buy one of the giant pretzels on offer in the stadium. When I say giant, we’re talking the size of my face.

The men's pole vault final is now under way, which means Swedish superstar Armand Duplantis has arrived.

Duplantis has written and performed 'Gold', which is the official song of the championship and plays as he steps up for his first attempt.

He soars over 5.60m, as does main rival Emmanouil Karalis. Let's hope those two can put on a show this evening!

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Record prize money, fierce competition and a global audience. What's not to love for the athletes who have travelled to Budapest?

However, there is also the matter of the excluded athletes and events.

World triple jump champion Pedro Pichardo responded on social media to the decision to exclude his discipline: "I really don't understand what your problem is, and even less so making this decision without any explanation.

"This isn't track and field and it's not good for our sport."

After ending her season with victory in the Diamond League Final, world shot put champion Chase Jackson told Citius Mag: "My body is saying 'yes' but my pockets are saying 'why the hell am I not at the Ultimate?'

"How [do] you have track and field and just skip events? How does that make any sense?"

Australia's world champion Nicola Olyslagers can't get over 1.99m to continue taking the fight to Olympic champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh.

The Ukrainian, with a second-time clearance at that height, is crowned the Ultimate champion and pockets $150,000 after a total of four jumps.

Not a bad day's work at all!

Image source, PA Media

No surprise to see a strong 64% qualification chance hovering above the head of world record holder Masai Russell after her incredible run in Zurich last month before the first of the women's 100m hurdles semi-finals.

Dutch athlete Nadine Visser is pushing her until the closing stages but Russell finishes so strong and opens daylight between herself and the rest of her rivals to comfortably win in 12.38 seconds.

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Emma Middleton
BBC Sport in Budapest

I’m currently sat quite high up in the stands with the rest of the media.

But even from up here I can hear the whir of the robotic cars retrieving the hammers from the other end of throwing zone.

It’s only noticeable when the stadium falls quiet, before the start gun is fired. But I wonder whether the track athletes hear it?

Do keep your opinions on athletics' brand new global event coming in!

Yesterday, the athletes rocked up to the Ultimate Championships dressed to impress on the red carpet before getting stuck into a media day featuring press conference, photoshoots and a lane draw for the 200m semi-finals.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

The first final of the night saw Britain's mixed 4x100m quartet finish third behind the USA and Jamaica.

Here's what they have been saying about the experience, speaking to BBC Sport.

Imani-Lara Lansiquot: "We have so much experience and chemistry and the feeling when we walked out here with this energy at a new event, this was super fun."

Jeremiah Azu: "We're winners at heart. But we've got to respect the competition, two teams ran quicker than us.

"It's incredible to be out here, what a privilege to be part of it."

Great jump!

Australia's world champion Nicola Olyslagers extends the women's high jump final by joining Olympic champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh with a clearance over 1.95m at the third and final attempt.

There will be no shaking hands here either, any ties in vertical jumps at the Ultimate will be settled by a jump off.

Let's check in on the field events. We have the men's hammer and women's high jump ongoing.

Somewhat surprisingly, Olympic hammer champion Ethan Katzberg has failed to record a mark with his two throws.

Germany's Merlin Hummel is currently spoiling the party as he leads Hungary's Bence Halasz with a best throw of 81.46m.

It is Olympic champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh who leads the women's high jump with a clean record and a first-time clearance over 1.95m.

Nobody has managed to join her at that height yet...

So close!

Yemi Mary John is pushing and pushing down the home straight but just runs out of track as she closes in on the top four.

The 23-year-old clocks 50.38 seconds for fifth, as Dominican Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino takes the win in 49.58 ahead of Olympic silver medallist Salwa Eid Naser.

Tough heat for John, and that won't be enough to see her progress.

So, Matthew Hudson-Smith is safely through to the men's 400m final tomorrow night.

Now, can British team-mate Yemi Mary John force her way into the women's event?

She goes in the first heat alongside some of the discipline's heavyweights including Marileidy Paulino.

Image source, Getty Images

Athletics has long grappled with the issue of retaining the attention and excitement which the sport generates at the Olympics throughout those four-year cycles.

Because of the disruption caused by the pandemic, each of the past five years have provided a pinnacle event which gathered the biggest stars in front of a global audience.

But, for many top British athletes, a 2026 season centred around a Commonwealth Games and European Championship on home soil would probably have ended at the Diamond League Final.

"It is an attempt to just start experimenting a bit and innovating, with an event that will determine who really is the best of the best," World Athletics president Sebastian Coe told BBC Sport.

"There's no guarantee we're going get everything right, and no guarantee that everything is going to work. In two years, we might look at a slightly different format.

"I also want to be able to put some of the things we're doing into the World Championship format. We have a responsibility to try and engage new young audiences."

He can! Matthew Hudson-Smith crosses the line in second, behind fast-finishing American Jacory Patterson.

It's 44.79 seconds for European champion Hudson-Smith, who got out fast and held on well in the closing stages.

That's the sixth-quickest across the two semi-finals. Don't miss that final tomorrow night.

Image source, PA Media

Botswana's season-leader Collen Kebinatshipi makes a statement in the first men's 400m semi-final, taking the win in 44.23 seconds.

Now, can Matthew Hudson-Smith book his place in tomorrow's final?

Top four to go through...