A Season Full of World-Class Moments
The 2026 outdoor athletics season has come to an end. From the first Wanda Diamond League meetings in spring, via the European Championships in Birmingham and our highlight, Weltklasse Zürich, to the Wanda Diamond League Final in Brussels and the inaugural Ultimate Championships in Budapest, the season delivered great stories, outstanding performances and unforgettable moments. From a Swiss perspective, 2026 was a season like no other – and for Weltklasse Zürich, another year that showed just how uniquely athletics can be celebrated in Zurich. (Photo: Patrick B. Kraemer)
Weltklasse Zürich: Two World Records and a Letzigrund Full of Emotion
The highlight from a Zurich perspective came on 27 August. In front of 25,000 enthusiastic fans at a sold-out Letzigrund Stadium, Weltklasse Zürich 2026 became an evening to remember.
Two world records fell within just under forty minutes: first, Alison dos Santos improved Karsten Warholm's previous 400m hurdles world record to 45.80 seconds. Shortly afterwards, Masai Russell set another world record in the 100m hurdles, clocking 12.09 seconds – the 27th world record in the almost 100-year history of Weltklasse Zürich. There were also numerous other outstanding performances, six meeting records and six world-leading performances.
Swiss fans had plenty to celebrate. Audrey Werro won the 800m in 1:53.70, improving her own Swiss and Diamond League records in the process. It was also the third-fastest time in the history of the event. Fabienne Hoenke in the 200m, Jason Joseph in the 110m hurdles and wheelchair athlete Marcel Hug in the 1500m also celebrated victories on home soil.
The evening before, Weltklasse Zürich had already provided a spectacular opening at Zurich Main Station. More than 3,000 spectators and passers-by watched the City Event featuring the world's best female pole vaulters. Hana Moll won the Diamond League competition, while home favourite Angelica Moser finished second in front of her home crowd, setting a new Swiss indoor record of 4.85m in the process.
Once again, Weltklasse Zürich delivered exactly what the meeting has stood for over decades: world-class performances, major international stars and Swiss athletes showing their best in front of a home crowd.
Swiss Athletics Takes the Next Step
The strength and depth of Swiss athletics in 2026 had already become clear a few days earlier at the European Championships in Birmingham. With seven medals, three European titles and a total of 20 top-eight finishes, the Swiss team continued the historic success of Rome 2024.
Audrey Werro crowned her season with the European title in the 800m. Her time of 1:54.81 also set a new championship record. Angelica Moser successfully defended her European title in the pole vault, while Jason Joseph also won gold in the 110m hurdles. Simon Ehammer (long jump, silver), Dominic Lobalu (10,000m, silver), Timothé Mumenthaler (200m, bronze) and the women's 4x100m relay team (silver) also returned home with medals.
What was particularly remarkable was not only the number of medals, but also the breadth of the Swiss contingent at the top level. With 67 athletes across all event groups, Switzerland fielded its largest-ever European Championships team. The performances in Birmingham made one thing clear: Swiss athletics is no longer internationally competitive only through individual stars. The upward trajectory, sparked by the 2014 European Championships in Zurich, continues.
The Wanda Diamond League: From Shanghai to Brussels
The road to Zurich was once again part of a global journey through the world of athletics in 2026. The Wanda Diamond League took athletes to 14 meetings across four continents – from Shanghai and Xiamen, Rabat and the European stops to Doha, Eugene, Monaco, London, Lausanne, Silesia and finally Zurich.
Throughout the season, the biggest names in athletics shaped the series. At the same time, Swiss athlete Audrey Werro emerged as one of the outstanding figures of the Wanda Diamond League. After victories and meeting records in Rabat, Stockholm and Paris, she continued her winning streak in Lausanne and Zurich. At the Wanda Diamond League Final in Brussels, she confirmed her exceptional status with another victory in the 800m and successfully defended her title in the premium meeting series – becoming the first Swiss woman ever to do so.
Audrey Werro Writes Her Own Season Story
Few athletes shaped the 2026 season as much as Audrey Werro. European champion, unbeaten Diamond League series winner, Swiss record holder – and now also Ultimate Champion.
At the inaugural Ultimate Championships in Budapest, the 22-year-old from Fribourg put the finishing touch to her season. In the 800m final, she once again left the British Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson and the Dutch hurdles world champion Femke Bol behind. Werro therefore remained unbeaten in her final major outdoor race of the season.
The Ultimate Championships also marked a new approach to the international athletics calendar. With a compact format, world-class fields and a total of ten million US dollars in prize money, World Athletics aimed to create a new and lucrative season-ending championship. The inaugural edition in Budapest delivered spectacular competitions and compelling stories – above all thanks to Audrey Werro's prestigious Swiss victory.
Weltklasse Zürich Inspires – Beyond the Big Stage
Being more than just a major night of sport has long been part of the Weltklasse Zürich programme. Throughout the season, our events inspired people across Switzerland and set new records.
The Weltklasse Zürich Zoo Run sold out shortly after registration opened. More than 1,300 enthusiastic runners took part in the race through the closed Zurich Zoo in support of nature conservation, raising around CHF 33,000 – a new fundraising record.
The Weltklasse Zürich Extrameile also looks back on a record-breaking season. With nine final events in German-speaking Switzerland, 2026 was the biggest season since the project began. Thousands of schoolchildren experienced first-hand that endurance, exercise and pushing their own limits can ultimately mean one thing above all: fun.
At Jugend trainiert mit Weltklasse Zürich, record-breaking registration numbers confirmed the programme's continued popularity. And the UBS Kids Cup also made history: since its launch in 2011, two million participations have now been recorded. In 2026 alone, more than 150,000 children and young people took part in Switzerland's largest youth athletics series.
And so a season comes to an end in which Weltklasse Zürich inspired and excited people both on and off the track: with world-class performances in the stadium, Swiss successes on Europe's and the world's biggest stages – and tens of thousands of children, young people and adults who became part of this world-class story themselves.
