Get Guardian on GoogleFormer world U-20 200m champion, U.S.-based Udodi Onwuzurike, will pocket $150,000 if he wins the 200m title at the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
The maiden World Athletics Ultimate Championship will be held from September 11 to 13. If Onwuzurike wins, the $150,000 jackpot will be the biggest prize of his career.
Onwuzurike, who took a silver medal in the men’s 200m with a season’s best of 20.09 seconds and a bronze in the 4x100m relay for Team Nigeria at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, secured his place in the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championships in Budapest, after a dramatic twist in the qualification process.
He was handed a spot in the 16-athlete field, despite initially sitting 17th in the world rankings for the 200m as of September 3.
With only 13 athletes expected to qualify through the ranking route, the automatic qualification of America’s Noah Lyles and Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo through their Olympic and World Championships wild cards opened an additional pathway for Onwuzurike. He moved into 15th place.
The Nigerian then benefited further from the reported withdrawals of Great Britain’s Zharnel Hughes and USA’s Tate Taylor, ensuring his place in the historic field.
The Ultimate Championships will bring together the world’s leading athletes from different global competitions and ranking positions to determine the ultimate 200m champion.
If everything goes according to plan, Onwuzurike is expected to be a strong contender for the title and $150,000 jackpot, considering the strength and experience he has gathered since becoming the World U20 champion in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2021.
