Prince Albert II of Monaco has praised Budapest and the new World Athletics Ultimate Championship after attending the event in the Hungarian capital, describing the opening night as a successful experiment in making athletics faster and more engaging.
Prince Albert spoke to Hungarian newspaper Blikk during the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest. He attended the event not only as Monaco’s head of state, but also as president of the Monegasque Athletics Federation and honorary president of the International Athletics Foundation.
The prince gave a positive assessment of the championship’s opening night, highlighting its fast pace, atmosphere and efforts to experiment with a different way of presenting athletics. He said the format offered memorable moments and very little downtime, although he added that the full three-day event would need to conclude before its success could be properly judged.
Prince Albert praises Budapest
Albert was particularly complimentary about the Hungarian capital and its sporting audience.
“It is fantastic that the Ultimate Championship is being hosted by Budapest, one of the finest cities for sport.”
He also congratulated the organisers and Hungary, saying the enthusiasm of Hungarian spectators for sport was clearly visible. The praise comes as Budapest hosts the first edition of the World Athletics Ultimate Championship, a new season-ending competition designed to offer a more compact and fast-moving athletics format.
Albert has been involved in international athletics for decades and told Blikk that the sport has changed significantly over that period. In his view, athletics has become more dynamic and audiences are now much more involved than they were several decades ago.
He argued that the sport should continue searching for ways to become easier to follow and more attractive outside its biggest summer events.
Could athletics ever rival football?
The prince was also asked whether higher prize money could eventually bring athletics stars closer to the financial and social status enjoyed by leading footballers and tennis players.
Albert said he did not expect that gap to disappear soon. Football, he noted, benefits from a long and continuous season, giving its stars far greater and more regular media exposure.
He nevertheless welcomed the growing sums being offered to athletes and described the prize package at the Budapest competition as one of the strongest he had seen in athletics.
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And what about Péter Magyar?
The interview ended on a lighter note when Albert was asked which athletics discipline he would choose if he ever competed against Prime Minister Péter Magyar. The prince laughed and said no such contest had been discussed. He noted that Magyar enjoys football and said he was pleased to have met and spoken with the Hungarian prime minister in Budapest.
He nevertheless left the door open to the imaginary showdown:
“Perhaps one day such a competition could take place.”
Highlights from the Budapest championship
The inaugural championship has already delivered several memorable moments. Hungary’s Bence Halász claimed silver in the men’s hammer throw with 80.30 metres, giving the home crowd a major success, while some of athletics’ biggest international stars also produced standout performances across the weekend.
The event has drawn further attention for its record USD 10 million prize fund, with individual champions earning USD 150,000.
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