Duplantis wins pole vault title on Ultimate Championship opening night

Armand Duplantis won the men's pole vault title on the opening night of the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest on Friday, securing $150,000 in prize money. According to BBC Sport's reporting from Harry Poole, the Swedish athlete finished the evening attempting a world record after a contest with Greece's Emmanouil Karalis in front of a sell-out crowd exceeding 20,000.

Watch the highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX27VyC_TRk

Duplantis was unable to clear 6.32 metres, which would have delivered the 16th world record of his career. The 26-year-old, a two-time Olympic champion, had already secured the title before that attempt. His appearance also extended beyond the competition itself: the championship's official song, which he wrote and recorded, played in the stadium during the evening.

The pole vault concluded a three-hour opening session featuring eight finals at the new three-day competition. World Athletics has attached a $10 million prize fund to the event and introduced a distinctive presentation, including a black infield and a pink long-jump sandpit. Television coverage used augmented reality to show athlete portraits, win probabilities and projected finishing positions, while winners collected trophies beside their competition areas before joining an enclosure in the stands.

Jakob Ingebrigtsen added the men's 5,000m title, making his decisive move in the home straight to finish in 12 minutes 59.24 seconds ahead of American Cole Hocker, the Olympic 1500m champion. The Norwegian's victory came a month after he returned from a long-term injury to win the European 5,000m title. Yaroslava Mahuchikh and Masai Russell were also among the opening night's winners, BBC Sport reported.

The United States took the mixed 4x100m relay in 39.64 seconds, with its four runners sharing $80,000. Jamaica finished second and Great Britain's Romell Glave, Imani-Lara Lansiquot, Jeremiah Azu and Success Eduan placed third in 40.26. In the women's long jump, Britain's Jazmin Sawyers finished second with a leap of 6.78 metres, adding another podium finish to a season that had already brought Commonwealth gold and European silver.

Britain's Keely Hodgkinson led the women's 800m qualifiers, winning her semi-final in 1:57.57 on her first appearance since taking European Championship silver. Audrey Werro and Femke Broeders-Bol also advanced. Matthew Hudson-Smith reached the men's 400m final after finishing second in his semi-final in 44.79 seconds, while Botswana's world champion Collen Kebinatshipi recorded the fastest qualifying time, 44.23.