BUDAPEST, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- The inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship concluded in Budapest on Sunday night, with American sprinters Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and Kenny Bednarek completing the women's and men's 100m-200m doubles respectively.
Jefferson-Wooden, who won the women's 100m in a world-leading 10.62 seconds on Saturday, dominated the 200m final in 21.47, moving to third on the all-time list.
The American powered out of the blocks and maintained her advantage through the second half of the race to beat Olympic champion Gabby Thomas, who finished second in 21.77. Fellow American Kayla White took third in 21.93.
"I did not see 21.47 coming tonight," Jefferson-Wooden said after the race.
Bednarek also completed a sprint double, winning the men's 200m in a personal best and world-leading 19.52, moving him to seventh on the all-time list.
Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo of Botswana finished second in a season's best 19.76, while Courtney Lindsey of the United States was third in 19.79.
"Coming home with two wins in Budapest is amazing," Bednarek said.
Another standout performance came in the men's 400m hurdles, where world record-holder Alison dos Santos of Brazil clocked 45.98 to beat Olympic champion Rai Benjamin of the United States and Norway's Karsten Warholm.
The winning time was the third-fastest performance in history, behind only Dos Santos' world record of 45.80 set earlier this year and Warholm's former world record of 45.94 from the Tokyo Olympics.
Elsewhere, Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi cleared a world-leading 2.37m to win the men's high jump, while Sri Lanka's Rumesh Pathirage produced a 91.09m throw in the final round to claim the men's javelin title, the first 90-meter throw ever achieved in Hungary.
Algeria's Djamel Sedjati won the men's 800m in 1:41.91 after surging into the lead in the closing stages, securing the first global title of his career. Britain's Josh Kerr took the men's 1,500m crown in 3:29.35 after a strong final-lap kick.
Ethiopia's Likina Amebaw won the women's 5,000m in 14:30.36, Senegal's Saly Sarr claimed the women's triple jump title with 15.06m, and the United States captured the mixed 4x400m relay gold in 3:08.32.
The three-day championship brought together Olympic champions, world champions, Diamond League winners and world record-holders, with stars including Mondo Duplantis, Yaroslava Mahuchikh, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Haruka Kitaguchi, Jefferson-Wooden, Bednarek and Dos Santos all taking titles.
Featuring 28 events and a total prize purse of 10 million U.S. dollars, the Ultimate Championship was introduced by World Athletics as a new season-ending global event, with a condensed competition format designed to create more direct clashes among the world's leading athletes. ■
