The CITIUS MAG Podcast | A Running + Track and Field Show

Chris Chavez and Kyle Merber recap the final day of World Ultimates, including an American sprint sweep, a 45.98 in the 400m hurdles, and Josh Kerr adding a 1500m title to his mile world record.

The biggest headlines:

- Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and Kenny Bednarek each leave Budapest with $300,000 after sweeping the 100m and 200m titles. MJW ran 21.47 in the women's 200m — the fourth-fastest time in history, into a 0.6 m/s headwind — to beat 2024 Olympic gold medalist Gabby Thomas (21.77). Only Florence Griffith Joyner's 1988 world record (21.34) and two Shericka Jackson runs have been faster. MJW also swept both events at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo.

- Kenny Bednarek won the men's 200m in a personal-best 19.52 — becoming the seventh-fastest man in history — beating 2024 Olympic gold medalist Letsile Tebogo. It's the same time Noah Lyles ran to win the 2025 World title in Tokyo. Bednarek said afterward: "Performance-wise and execution-wise, I give myself an A-plus." Two 200m Olympic silvers deep into his career, and the biggest race wins of that career came in Budapest.

- Alison Dos Santos ran 45.98 to win the men's 400m hurdles — the third-fastest time in history, and just 0.18 off his own newly-set world record from Zurich two weeks earlier. Rai Benjamin was second in 46.40 (also doubling from the 400m final on Saturday). Karsten Warholm was third in 46.78. Dos Santos, Benjamin, and Warholm now own the 37 fastest times in the event's history. It is the deepest three-way rivalry in the sport right now.

- Josh Kerr won the men's 1500m in 3:29.35, holding off Australia's Cameron Myers in his first major championship since breaking the mile world record on July 18. Americans finished third (Hobbs Kessler), fourth (Cole Hocker, the 2024 Olympic champion), and fifth (Yared Nuguse) all within three hundredths of each other.

- Djamel Sedjati of Algeria won the men's 800m in 1:41.91, overtaking Olympic gold medalist Emmanuel Wanyonyi and then Marco Arop in the final 100 meters. Jasmine Jones took the women's 400m hurdles in 52.45 for the biggest win of her career — Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone did not race this season after having her daughter Savannah in July.

- Plus the field events: Gianmarco Tamberi cleared 2.37m to beat JuVaughn Harrison in the high jump — the same height Tamberi and Mutaz Barshim cleared to share Olympic gold in Tokyo. Sri Lanka's Rumesh Pathirage won the men's javelin for the biggest track and field title in Sri Lankan history. The US won the mixed 4x400m relay (Chris Bailey, Alexis Holmes, Jacory Patterson, Aaliyah Butler).

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Stay tuned for more live coverage from the World Ultimate Championships in the days to come and make sure you’re subscribed to the ⁠⁠⁠⁠CITIUS MAG YouTube channel ⁠⁠⁠⁠so you don’t miss any of our interviews. Follow along on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠X⁠⁠⁠⁠, and subscribe to the ⁠⁠⁠⁠CITIUS MAG Newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠ to receive our daily recaps.

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Chris Chavez and Kyle Merber recap a wild day 2 of the 2026 World Athletics Ultimate Championship, including sprint finals, sub-44 history in the men's 400m, an American sweep of the 100m titles, and one of the deepest single days of racing the sport has seen in some time

The biggest headlines:

- Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and Kenny Bednarek gave the United States a sweep of the 100m titles. Jefferson-Wooden ran 10.62 — one hundredth off her personal best from winning the 2025 World title — to beat Julien Alfred (10.74) and Sha'Carri Richardson (10.76). She now has just one 100m defeat since taking bronze in Paris, and stands as the fourth-fastest woman in history. Bednarek ran 9.85 to win the biggest individual race of his career, beating 2025 World champion Oblique Seville by five hundredths. Noah Lyles was out injured. Bednarek did the job the American men needed.

- Collen Kebinatshipi of Botswana ran 43.39 in the men's 400m to win by 76 hundredths — the joint-fifth-fastest 400m in history. He has now broken 44 seconds on six occasions in 2026, the most for any athlete in a single year in the event's history. Rai Benjamin took silver in a race that was also the setup for his 400m hurdles semifinal roughly two hours later — one of the most demanding double-events attempts we've seen this year.

- Audrey Werro capped an undefeated 2026 season with the women's 800m title in 1:55.88, winning by 38 hundredths over Keely Hodgkinson. Femke Broeders-Bol was there. Werro was the 33rd-fastest woman in history in June. She has spent the summer running the third, fourth, and fifth-fastest times in history behind Jarmila Kratochvílová's 1:53.28 from 1983. Now she's a champion of the biggest meet of the year, undefeated, and 22 years old.

- Marileidy Paulino extended her own undefeated 2026 season with the women's 400m title in 49.07. She was in last place at 200 meters before running down the field. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, the 2025 World champion in 47.78, did not race this season — she had daughter Savannah in July.

- Sandi Morris earned the biggest outdoor pole vault title of her decade-plus career at 34 years old, clearing 4.90m to top Hana Moll on countback. Morris previously had silver medals at the 2016 Olympics and at the 2017, 2019, 2022, and 2025 World Championships. Five career silvers before this weekend. Now the first gold.

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Stay tuned for more live coverage from the World Ultimate Championships in the days to come and make sure you’re subscribed to the ⁠⁠⁠CITIUS MAG YouTube channel ⁠⁠⁠so you don’t miss any of our interviews. Follow along on ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠X⁠⁠⁠, and subscribe to the ⁠⁠⁠CITIUS MAG Newsletter⁠⁠⁠ to receive our daily recaps.

____________

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS

OLIPOP: OLIPOP's Citrus Rush packs apple, lemon, lime, and orange juices with 60mg of green tea caffeine for a bold, refreshing blast of flavor ready to fuel your next adventure. If you haven't had tried Olipop yet, grab a can and see what the hype is all about!⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Head to DrinkOlipop.com and use code CITIUS25 at checkout to get 25% off your orders.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

SUUNTO: The Suunto Run 2 is their new flagship watch built specifically for road running and the marathon. You get around 10 days of battery with daily use and 24 hours in performance mode with dual frequency GPS. The watch also tracks your sleep, HRV, and training balance, so you know when to push and when to back off in your workouts. ⁠⁠If you're in the market for a new watch, check out the Suunto Run 2⁠⁠.

Fresh off his third place finish in the 5000m at the World Ultimate Championships, Parker Wolfe joins Chris Chavez and Kyle Merber to reflect on his first full year as a professional runner, from staying healthy and consistent for nearly the entire season to racing the best athletes in the world and learning how to put himself in the right position when the stakes are highest.

We get into what changed for Parker after leaving the NCAA, including the more individualized strength and PT work with Swoosh TC and how being surrounded by teammates who are running fast has pushed everyone to another level. Parker also breaks down the long-term approach he learned from Coach Milt, his transition to Mike Smith, and why he believes there’s still more room to improve.

Parker also takes us inside some of his biggest races of the season, including the tactical decisions that went into the World Ultimate Championships 5K, his growing confidence racing up front, and the race videos he watches to learn the tactics of his competitors. Plus, we talk about his plans to get into more 1500s next year, his dream of racing the London Diamond League 1500m, and why he thinks becoming a better 1500m runner could be the key to becoming one of the best 5K runners in the world.

We also talk about the 2028 Olympic Trials, racing alongside a stacked group of American 5K talent, and whether Parker is already thinking about what could be next.

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Stay tuned for more live coverage from the World Ultimate Championships in the days to come and make sure you’re subscribed to the ⁠⁠CITIUS MAG YouTube channel ⁠⁠so you don’t miss any of our interviews. Follow along on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠, ⁠⁠X⁠⁠, and subscribe to the ⁠⁠CITIUS MAG Newsletter⁠⁠ to receive our daily recaps.

We recap the historic opening day of the 2026 World Athletics Ultimate Championship, track and field's newest global meet, with a $10 million prize pool that World Athletics is calling the richest in the history of the sport.

The biggest headlines:

- Jakob Ingebrigtsen won the men's 5000m in 12:59.24, going from fourth to first in the last 200 meters to beat Cole Hocker on his return to the 5000m. Hocker took silver in his first race at the distance since winning the 2025 World title. Parker Wolfe finished third. Nico Young was fifth. Grant Fisher sixth. Graham Blanks seventh. Five Americans in the top seven of a global 5000m final. It happened one week after Jakob and Hocker exchanged public words following the Diamond League Final.

- Masai Russell won the women's 100m hurdles in 12.22 — two weeks after lowering the world record to 12.09 at the Zurich Diamond League. She's now on a 13-meet win streak dating back to placing fourth at the 2025 World Championships. Training partner Devynne Charlton was second for Bahamas.

- Ja'Kobe Tharp added an Ultimate Championship title to his world record in the 110m hurdles, running 12.94 to edge 2025 World champion Cordell Tinch by one hundredth. The US took the top four spots in the men's 110m hurdles final even without Grant Holloway, who has been out all season with a March hamstring injury.

- The US won the mixed 4x100m relay (Ronnie Baker, Anavia Battle, Courtney Lindsey, Kayla White) in 39.64 — two hundredths off the world record Jamaica set at the World Relays in May. The mixed relay debuts at the World Championships in 2027 and at the LA Olympics in 2028.

- Mondo Duplantis cleared 6.20m to win the pole vault, then took three attempts at 6.32m in a bid for his 16th world record. Yaroslava Mahuchikh won the women's high jump to become the first athlete ever to hold Olympic gold, World Championship gold, world record, and Ultimate Championship gold simultaneously. Italy's Larissa Iapichino took the women's long jump for the biggest win of her career. Germany's Merlin Hummel won the men's hammer throw.

- Plus prelims for Saturday's finals: 2025 World champion Collen Kebinatshipi of Botswana, Rai Benjamin, Chris Bailey, and Jacory Patterson all qualified for the men's 400m final. Marileidy Paulino led all women's 400m qualifiers. Rai Benjamin will race both the 400m final and the 400m hurdles semifinals on Saturday in what is one of the boldest double-events attempts of the year. All of the women's 800m favorites — Keely Hodgkinson, Audrey Werro, Femke Broeders-Bol — made Saturday's final.

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Stay tuned for more live coverage from the World Ultimate Championships in the days to come and make sure you’re subscribed to the ⁠⁠CITIUS MAG YouTube channel ⁠⁠so you don’t miss any of our interviews. Follow along on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠, ⁠⁠X⁠⁠, and subscribe to the ⁠⁠CITIUS MAG Newsletter⁠⁠ to receive our daily recaps.

Wallace Spearmon joins the CITIUS MAG Podcast live from Budapest to talk all things World Ultimate Championships, USATF, and the current state of the sport.

The former world medalist breaks down the new 200m lane draft, why he’d happily take an outside lane, what Kenny Bednarek’s lane choice says about his race strategy, and why having the best athletes in the world all in one place could make for some of the most competitive rounds we’ve seen. He also shares what it was like competing in an era with “off years,” how the business of professional track has changed, and why he believes athletes today have more freedom to show their personalities.

Wallace also gets into the entertainment side of track and field, from Noah Lyles’ willingness to stir things up to Sha’Carri Richardson’s unapologetic personality, the rivalries brewing across the sport and why track could benefit from embracing a little more trash talk.

It’s a wide-ranging conversation about competition, personalities, rivalries, storytelling and where track and field is headed as we look toward LA 2028.

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Stay tuned for more live coverage from the World Ultimate Championships in the days to come and make sure you’re subscribed to the ⁠CITIUS MAG YouTube channel ⁠so you don’t miss any of our interviews. Follow along on ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠X⁠, and subscribe to the ⁠CITIUS MAG Newsletter⁠ to receive our daily recaps.