Josh Kerr wins Ultimate Championship 1500m title and $150,000 in Budapest

Josh Kerr won the men’s 1500m at the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest on Sunday, collecting $150,000 and becoming Britain’s first champion at the new competition. BBC Sport reported that the 28-year-old finished in 3:29.35 on the closing night of the three-day meeting, which offered a total prize fund of $10 million across its events.

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Kerr took control by passing American Yared Nuguse on the back straight and held the lead through the finish, according to BBC Sport’s race report. Afterwards, he defended his selective competition schedule, saying that racing less frequently helped him arrive fresh and prepared for major occasions.

His place in Budapest had come through an exceptional invitation from World Athletics rather than automatic qualification. BBC Sport reported that Jakob Ingebrigtsen received the same invitation, but withdrew from the 1500m after winning Friday’s 5,000m. That withdrawal meant the anticipated meeting between the two rivals did not take place, leaving Kerr to pursue the title without the Norwegian in the race.

Budapest already held particular significance for Kerr. Team Scotland noted before the meeting that his previous race in the city was the 2023 World Championships, when he won gold and Ingebrigtsen took silver. Sunday’s success therefore added another championship victory at a venue where he had already secured a defining result.

The field assembled for the event included athletes with recent major titles of their own. Team Scotland highlighted Australia’s Cameron Myers, winner of the Brussels Diamond League 1500m the previous weekend, and American Olympic champion Cole Hocker. Fellow Scot Jake Wightman also entered with a strong championship record: he was the 2022 world champion and the 2025 world silver medallist.

Kerr’s summer had already brought success over the mile before he returned to the shorter distance in Hungary. Team Scotland confirmed that he broke the mile world record in July and then won Commonwealth Games gold over that distance in Glasgow. His Budapest title added a further victory to that sequence, this time representing Great Britain and Northern Ireland rather than Scotland.