By Lori Ewing
BUDAPEST, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen marked his comeback from Achilles surgery in emphatic fashion on Friday, powering to victory in the men's 5,000 metres at the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship and securing the $150,000 top prize.
Opening day featured two of the sport's biggest stars as Mondo Duplantis brought the curtain down by adding another pole vault title to his illustrious resume, narrowly missing at a world record attempt.
Olympic champion
Ingebrigtsen clocked a season's best 12 minutes 59.24 seconds, producing the trademark late kick that has become his calling card by moving from the back of the field over the closing laps before sweeping past his rivals with 100 metres remaining.
A day after writing on Instagram that "a couple of months ago it looked unlikely I'd have a season at all", the Norwegian underlined his return to full fitness with another clinical display.
"This is amazing. Not many weeks ago I was telling my team that the 2026 season is far gone but then it started to get a little bit better," said Ingebrigtsen, who won the European title last month. "There was a lot of hope and eventually I got my momentum going."
The 25-year-old crossed the line, casually stopped the time on his watch, and wagged one finger at the crowd in celebration after holding off Olympic 1,500m champion Cole Hocker, who finished second in 13:00.05, while American teammate Parker Wolfe took third in 13:00.13.
For much of the race Ingebrigtsen bided his time at the back of the pack, content to let others dictate the pace before methodically working his way forward over the final two laps and unleashing a devastating finishing burst when it mattered most to win by 10 metres.
"I have gained a lot from the races I've done in the last couple of weeks," he said. "I am extremely happy to run sub-13 minutes. Being injured I was fearing the worst outcome and did not know if I would be able to run at all especially at this level."
Ingebrigtsen is also entered in the 1,500m where he would face arch-rival Josh Kerr of Britain in what will be their first head-to-head meeting in two years.
Sweden's Duplantis -- who has two Olympic gold medals and seven world indoor and outdoor titles combined -- delivered another victory, soaring 6.20 metres.
And then, with all other events completed and the spotlight fixed solely on him, the 26-year-old fell short on three world record attempts at 6.32, with windy conditions proving a challenge.
"It was amazing, it was a really fun competition, really hard fought, a little bit chilly, but we fought through it, that's what we do," said Duplantis, who sprinted down the runway to his own song "Gold," which is also the event's anthem
"Thanks you guys, you brought the energy, it's been a long season for all of us," he added, to the crowd.
Greece's Emmanouil Karalis, whose emergence has turned what was once a one-man show into a genuine contest this year, took second place with 6.15m after twice sending the crowd gasping as he wobbled on his vault and barely landed on the edge of the mat.
Karalis competed to the pulsating strains of "Zorba's Dance".
The Ultimate Championship, with a $10 million prize pot in a record for the sport, has been introduced to draw new fans, ditching the traditional championship model of three athletes per country in favour of high-stakes fields featuring the world's top-16 runners and top-eight competitors in the throws and jumps.
The event's opening night at Gyula Zsivotzky National Athletics Centre wrapped athletics in a glitzy production with bright pink and gold lights, darkened stands and a black infield that made the venue feel more like an enormous stage.
There was pounding music and dramatic walkouts -- the men's hammer field entered the stadium to "Wrecking Ball" by Miley Cyrus.
World Athletics said opening night drew a sold-out crowd of 20,557 fans, with 60% of fans coming from Budapest, while the remaining 40% were international visitors.
(Reporting by Lori Ewing)
