Duplantis clears 6.20m to win inaugural Ultimate Championship title

Armand Duplantis won the men's pole vault at the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest on Friday, September 11, clearing 6.20m before an unsuccessful attempt to raise his world record to 6.32m. According to World Athletics' event report, the Swedish athlete completed every height he attempted through 6.20m without a failure, securing another global title at the start of the three-day meeting.

Watch the highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJjYQRm5qyw

Greece's Emmanouil Karalis finished second with 6.15m after keeping the contest alive with a third-attempt clearance at 6.05m. He subsequently missed once at 6.20m and twice at 6.25m. Norway's Sondre Guttormsen took third on countback at 5.95m, the height also cleared by Kurtis Marschall and Zach Bradford.

World Athletics reported that this was the first outdoor competition in which five men had cleared at least 5.95m. Duplantis's victory added an Ultimate Championship title to a record already including two Olympic titles, three outdoor world titles and four world indoor titles. His bid for a 16th world record did not succeed.

On the track, Jakob Ingebrigtsen won the men's 5,000m in 12:59.24. World Athletics' race report recorded a final lap of 54.39 seconds and a last 100m of 12.60 seconds. The Norwegian was fifth at the bell and remained fourth with 200m to go before moving out and accelerating on the finishing straight to take the title.

Cole Hocker finished second in 13:00.05, with fellow American Parker Wolfe third in 13:00.13. Wolfe had led at the start of the last lap but could not match Ingebrigtsen's finishing speed. The result followed Ingebrigtsen's return from injury; he told World Athletics he had previously been unsure whether he would be able to compete at this level during the season.

BBC Sport reported that Friday's programme included eight finals over three hours, with Yaroslava Mahuchikh and Masai Russell also among the winners. The opening session introduced the championship's distinctive presentation, including a black infield and televised graphics showing win probabilities. Duplantis collected $150,000 from the event's $10 million prize fund, while a crowd of more than 20,000 attended the first night.