Mondo Duplantis releases 'Gold' as official anthem for World Athletics' inaugural Ultimate Championship

Armand "Mondo" Duplantis has released a song titled Gold as the official anthem for World Athletics' inaugural Ultimate Championship in Budapest, the track arriving on Friday ahead of the event scheduled for September 11 to 13.

The Ultimate Championship will gather Olympic champions, world champions and Diamond League winners to compete across three evening sessions, with a total prize pool of $10 million and $150,000 awarded to each individual gold medallist.

Duplantis, a 26-year-old two-time Olympic champion who holds multiple world records in the pole vault, has pursued music alongside his athletics career and made his musical debut in 2025 with the single Bop; he has also spoken about ambitions beyond sport, saying that winning a Grammy remains one of his dreams.

World Athletics said Gold was co-written by Duplantis with Carl Silvergran and Oscar Chase, with Chase handling production. "I wrote the song around representing something that's a lot bigger than yourself," Duplantis said in the announcement, as quoted by AP. "I think that's what we all do when we're on the track. We represent our family, our team, our coaches, and I love that concept. Music and sports are the two things that bring people together in the best way, and Gold' is an expression of that."

The music video for Gold was filmed in Budapest and mixes current footage with clips from Duplantis' early years in the sport, presenting his progression from a promising youngster to global prominence. Duplantis has previously told the Olympics channel that making music gives him an escape from competitive pressures and serves as a creative outlet outside athletics.

Duplantis is scheduled to perform Gold live during the event's closing ceremony. "The Ultimate is purposefully designed to showcase the talents and passions of our sport's biggest stars, on and off the track," World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said. "Mondo is one of our most recognizable and accomplished athletes, and we could not be more excited that he is the one who created the Ultimate Anthem."

World Athletics said the anthem will feature prominently throughout the Ultimate Championship, becoming part of both the television broadcast and the in-stadium entertainment experience, and the competition is expected to be held once every two years as part of the federation's long-term plans for the event.