Rivals Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr will go head-to-head for the first time in two years at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship on Sept. 13 in Budapest.
Though neither has qualified automatically for the Ultimate Championship 1500m, World Athletics announced Monday that it added both athletes to the field at the first edition of the event.
“This decision was made through careful deliberation by the steering board of the Ultimate Championship,” according to a press release. “While exceptional invitations are otherwise capped at one per discipline for the inaugural edition of the global championship, the board determined this race could not in good faith be considered a full lineup of the greatest athletes on the planet without the inclusion of both Kerr and Ingebrigtsen.”
The Norwegian Ingebrigtsen already has an automatic spot in the Ultimate Championship in the 5000m as the 2024 Olympic gold medalist in that event.
Ingebrigtsen missed much of the 2025 and 2026 seasons due to Achilles problems and then surgery early this year. He made his 2026 season debut Aug. 10, winning the European title in the 5000m. Then on Sunday, he placed fourth in the 1500m at a Diamond League meet in Poland.
The Brit Kerr broke the world record in the mile on July 18 at a Diamond League meet in London.
He prioritized that record pursuit, plus the Commonwealth Games, this season over racing on the international circuit. That meant he didn’t qualify automatically for the Ultimate Championship.
The men’s 1500m field at the Ultimate Championship is also expected to include Americans Cole Hocker and Yared Nuguse, who won gold and bronze at the Paris Olympics.
Kerr took silver in Paris, while Ingebrigtsen was fourth in his Olympic 1500m title defense. Kerr and Ingebrigtsen traded verbal barbs going into the Paris Games.
The Ultimate Championship will have fields of eight to 16 athletes per individual event based primarily on world rankings with no limits on athletes per country.
