Athletics-Jefferson-Wooden, Bednarek pocket $300,000 after sprint doubles in Budapest

Athletics - 2026 World Athletics Ultimate Championships - National Athletics Centre, Budapest, Hungary - September 13, 2026 Melissa Jefferson-Wooden of the U.S. celebrates as she crosses the line to win the Women's 200m final REUTERS/Marton Monus

BUDAPEST, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Americans ⁠Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and Kenny Bednarek completed sprint doubles at the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship ⁠on Sunday, each banking $300,000 by racing to victory in the 200m a day after ‌they were crowned 100m champions.

Jefferson-Wooden, the sport's new sprint queen, sealed a memorable weekend by capturing the women's 200m title in a blistering 21.47 seconds -- making her the third-fastest women over the distance of all-time -- after her victory in the ​blue-riband 100m.

Olympic champion Gabby Thomas was second in 21.77.

Bednarek had set ⁠the pace minutes earlier, building a ⁠sizeable lead on the corner en route to 19.52 in the men's 200m, ahead of Botswana's Olympic ⁠champion ‌Letsile Tebogo (19.76).

The stadium screen showed a smiling world record-holder Usain Bolt standing applauding Bednarek's effort.

For Jefferson-Wooden and Bednarek, who have trained together in Central Florida for the past three years, ⁠the weekend felt like the culmination of years of hard work.

For ​Jefferson-Wooden, the race was another ‌chance to underline her status among the world's elite sprinters three years after she ⁠attended the world championships ​in Budapest only as part of the U.S. relay pool.

Bednarek, meanwhile, has spent much of the past decade establishing himself as one of the world's finest half-lappers.

Nicknamed "Kung Fu Kenny" because he races in a bandana, he is ⁠a two-time Olympic silver medallist over 200m and has ​regularly challenged for major titles. Saturday's 100m victory was his first individual global title.

The inaugural three-day event, compact and designed for television, drew sellout crowds of just over 20,000 fans each evening, and by the ⁠final night the atmosphere felt less like a traditional athletics meeting and more like a party, with music pumping during events, and athletes feeding off the energy.

Italian Gianmarco Tamberi had the crowd enthralled as he cleared 2.37 metres to win the men's high jump title.

Never one to miss a chance to ​work the crowd, Tamberi competed while "Rock This Party" and "Put Your Hands ⁠Up in the Air" boomed from the stadium speakers.

Pole vault world record-holder Mondo Duplantis closed the event by ​performing his song "Gold," which was also the event's anthem, while ‌fireworks blasted above the stadium.

World Athletics president Sebastian Coe ​said that the event was partly a trial, and elements that worked well could potentially be included in future Olympics and World Championships.

(Reporting by Lori EwingEditing by Toby Davis)

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田径——2026年世界田径极限锦标赛——匈牙利布达佩斯国家田径中心——2026年9月13日，美国选手梅丽莎·杰斐逊-伍登冲过终点线，赢得女子200米决赛冠军，并庆祝胜利。（路透社/马顿·莫努斯摄）

布达佩斯，9 月 13 日（路透社）——美国选手梅丽莎·杰斐逊-伍登和肯尼·贝德纳雷克周日在首届世界田径终极锦标赛上包揽短跑双料冠军，他们在前一天加冕 100 米冠军后，又在 200 米比赛中夺冠，各自获得 30 万美元奖金。

杰斐逊-伍登，这位这项运动的新晋短跑女王，在赢得女子100米冠军后，又以惊人的21.47秒夺得女子200米冠军，为这个令人难忘的周末画上了圆满的句号——这使她成为有史以来该项目第三快的女子选手。

奥运冠军加比·托马斯以 21.77 秒的成绩获得第二名。

贝德纳雷克在几分钟前就确立了领先优势，在弯道处建立了相当大的领先优势，最终在男子 200 米比赛中跑出了 19.52 秒的成绩，领先于博茨瓦纳奥运冠军莱齐莱·特博戈（19.76 秒）。

体育场的大屏幕上，面带微笑的世界纪录保持者尤塞恩·博尔特站着为贝德纳雷克的努力鼓掌。

对于过去三年一直在佛罗里达州中部一起训练的杰斐逊-伍登和贝德纳雷克来说，这个周末感觉就像是多年努力的结晶。

对于杰斐逊-伍登来说，这场比赛是她巩固自己在世界顶尖短跑运动员地位的又一次机会。三年前，她只是作为美国接力队的一员参加了在布达佩斯举行的世界锦标赛。

与此同时，贝德纳雷克在过去的十年里，一直致力于将自己打造成为世界上最优秀的半圈赛车手之一。

他因比赛时戴着头巾而被昵称为“功夫肯尼”，曾两次获得奥运会200米银牌，并多次冲击重要赛事冠军。周六的100米胜利是他获得的首个个人世界冠军头衔。

首届为期三天的赛事规模紧凑，专为电视转播而设计，每晚都吸引了超过 2 万名观众到场，座无虚席。到了最后一晚，现场气氛与其说是一场传统的田径比赛，不如说是一场派对，比赛期间音乐震耳欲聋，运动员们也从中汲取能量。

意大利选手詹马尔科·坦贝里以2.37米的成绩赢得男子跳高冠军，令全场观众为之倾倒。

向来不放过任何与观众互动的机会，当体育场扬声器里播放着《Rock This Party》和《Put Your Hands Up in the Air》时，Tamberi 参加了比赛。

撑杆跳世界纪录保持者蒙多·杜普兰蒂斯演唱了他的歌曲《金牌》，这首歌也是本次活动的主题曲，为活动画上了圆满的句号，同时体育场上空也绽放了绚丽的烟花。

世界田径协会主席塞巴斯蒂安·科表示，该赛事在某种程度上是一次试验，其中效果良好的元素可能会被纳入未来的奥运会和世界锦标赛中。

（Lori Ewing报道，Toby Davis编辑）

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