SA Athletes Chase $10m Prize at Inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest
- Sinesipho Dambile leads South Africa's medal hopes at the first-ever World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest this weekend
- The three-day event offers a record $10m prize pool, with each champion guaranteed $150,000
- Akani Simbine, Gift Leotlela, Zakithi Nene, Prudence Sekgodiso and Marioné Fourie are also set to compete for SA
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A squad of South African sprinters and middle-distance runners will descend on Budapest this weekend with medals and a historic payday in their sights, as the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship opens on Friday.
The three-day event, running from Friday to Sunday, carries a $10 million (approximately R159.4 million) prize pool, the largest in the history of the sport. Every individual event winner is guaranteed $150,000 (approximately R2.39 million), a figure that dwarfs the $60,000 maximum available to a Diamond League Final champion.
Dambile carries the nation's greatest hopes
Sinesipho Dambile arrives in Budapest as South Africa's most compelling medal contender. The 24-year-old 200m specialist claimed silver at the Diamond League Final in Brussels on Saturday, clocking 19.89 seconds behind American Kenny Bednarek, who won in 19.62.
The Brussels result capped an exceptional season for Dambile, who topped the Diamond League 200m standings, posted a personal best of 19.74 seconds, and won Commonwealth Games gold in Glasgow. That Commonwealth triumph made him South Africa's first men's 200m champion at the Games, while his personal best placed him second on the country's all-time list behind Clarence Munyai.
A silver medal in Budapest alone would be worth approximately R1.2 million, with even a sixth-place finish at the biennial showpiece carrying a prize of more than R200,000.
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A strong South African contingent
Dambile will be joined by a broader South African contingent across multiple disciplines. Akani Simbine and Gift Leotlela are entered in the 100m, while Zakithi Nene will contest the 400m. Prudence Sekgodiso is set to compete in the women's 800m, and Marioné Fourie has qualified for the women's 100m hurdles.
Nene, who finished third in the Diamond League 400m standings this season, had already pointed to Budapest as a primary target ahead of the campaign's closing stages.
The Ultimate Championship was designed to bring together Olympic and world champions alongside Diamond League winners and the year's top-ranked performers. Qualification was determined through a combination of championship results, Diamond League success and world rankings.
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Source: Briefly News
