Millions of dollars up grabs in Budapest as council reelect Coe

Millions of dollars up grabs in Budapest as council reelect Coe

Athletes who break world records at the World Athletics Championships here are in line to win a $100,000 (£78.5 million/€92 million), after Japanese electronics giant TDK extended its long-running support of the event.

TDK's involvement with the World Athletics Championships dates back to the inaugural edition in Helsinki in 1983, and it is also set to continue as the main bib sponsor for men's events in the Hungarian capital.

It is set to provide the award for world records in the men's events and World Athletics through its Inside Track online hub for women's competitions, with the programme for the mixed 4x400 metres relay receiving joint support.

American Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone in the women's 400m hurdles, who is not competing in the Hungarian capital due to injury, and Swedish pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis broke world records at last year's World Championships in Eugene.

Equalling the world record does not make an athlete eligible for the $100,000 reward.

The total prize pool has remained the same as it did last year at $8.498 million (£6.673 million/€7.284 million).

Individual gold medallists stand to win $70,000 (£55,000/€64,400), silver medallists $35,000 (£27,500/€32,200) and bronze medallists $22,000 (£17,300/€20,300), with prize money trickling down to $5,000 (£3,900/€4,600) for eighth place.

The top eight in the relays are also set to win prize money, with the winners sharing $80,000 (£62,800/€73,700), second place taking $40,000 (£31,400/€36,800) and third place $20,000 (£15,700/€18,400).

The World Athletics Championships are due to begin on Saturday (August 19) in Budapest and run until August 27, featuring approximately 2,000 athletes from around 200 nations. There are 49 medal events on the programme.

Meanwhile, Sebastian Coe was reelected president of World Athletics for a third term, the governing body said in a statement after its 54th Congress in Budapest, Hungary, on Thursday.

Raul Chapado, Adille Sumariwalla and Jackson Tuwei were elected vice-presidents alongside Ximena Restrepo, who was reelected.

The global body said it met its minimum gender target set out in 2016 of having 13 members of each gender elected to the World Athletics Council four years early.

"I'm grateful for the support of my colleagues and delighted to see that more of the commitments we made during the governance reform process in 2016 have come to fruition with the election of World Athletics' first gender equal council four years ahead of schedule," Coe said. "But the job is not done yet and we need to keep pushing for gender parity throughout our representative bodies."

World Athletics has until its 2027 Congress to meet the remaining requirement from its 2016 reform plan of having two vice presidents of each gender.