World Athletics unveiled the official trophy and bracelet designs for the Ultimate Championship on Tuesday ahead of the inaugural competition in Budapest in just ten days, with the awards marking a departure from traditional prizes.
In a symbolic revamp of what it means to be a champion for the upcoming event, the governing body set out for a “reimagining of awards,” with no medals for those who make it to the podium.
Instead, a trophy will be given to the winners along with a bracelet as a keepsake.
The trophies and bracelets are meant to pair together as a single piece for the individual champions and rather than a traditional award ceremony, the athletes will simply grab their prize from a rock slab where it will remain throughout the competition. The gold bracelets can be adjusted if worn on the wrist or resized to fit around the midpoint of the trophy.
“We have made an intentional decision to move away from medals as the awards at the Ultimate Championship,” World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said. “This global championship is all about striving to be the one athlete who comes out on top. Distributing awards for the top three didn’t feel true to that foundational concept, so we are instead focused on the trophies given to the winners of each discipline.”
A deeper look at the design of both items shows that World Athletics is trying to differentiate the event from world championships or other large international track and field competitions. In a video accompanying images of the prizes, a craftsman sands the rough portions of a starburst stone trophy before attaching it to a base. A metallic gold star mimicking the same shape of the trophy is fixed on top and the bracelet is the last touch of personalization.
The trophies are meant to be a nod to stone statues out in a large public park or museum, as athletes will have their chance of carving their “name in history” as part of the first participants in the debut of the event from September 11 to 13.
Noah Lyles, who has served as a creative adviser leading up to the competition and will be the “Ultimate MC,” urged organizers to create an original prize that only a top winner at an event like the Ultimate Champion could receive. After a review process of several designs, a team of Hungarian designers, jewelers and sculptors brought the final trophy design to final form.
Once the trophies are retrieved by each winner, a movement of commemoration will be accompanied by a video segment and fireworks. The athlete will then head into the stands and walk through the crowd along a path that will lead them to the media.
The Ultimate Championship was devised as an event to keep competition on the track and in the field high during years when there is no world championship or Olympic Games. Many of the participants were selected through automatic qualifiers by winning Olympic gold or a world title. The format will only feature some semifinals and finals, with no extended heats or qualifying rounds. This year’s edition will offer a $10 million total prize pool, offering some of the highest payouts in the sport.
