The World Athletics Ultimate Championship, taking place on Friday, 11 to Sunday, 13 September, is designed to settle the debate over who is the best of the best, with world champions, Olympic champions, Wanda Diamond League winners and the year’s top-ranked athletes all striving to be crowned the champion of champions.Download our Mozzart Sport app for more newsHowever, Kenya's 800m World champion Lilian Odira is set to miss the competition set for Budapest where she was expected to go up against a stellar field led by the inform Audrey Werro, who has been the breakout star of 2026, going unbeaten outdoors and climbing to third on the world all-time list with 1:53.70.Odira had earned an automatic spot in the inaugural event by winning the world title in Tokyo last year but an illness has forced the Kenyan middle-distance star to pull out of the competition, as well as the premier all-women's professional track and field competition series, Athlos, effectively ending her 2026 season.Herculean task for Wafalme Stars in quest for World Champs qualification"It is so disappointing for me to say I shall not be at the World Ultimate Championships in Budapest and the Athlos in London," she confirmed on her social media handles.She continues, "Since coming back to Nairobi a few weeks ago, I have yet to fully recover from the illness I had and as a result, I have not stepped back on the track for any training session. The women's 800m is so amazing right now, and I am just really heartbroken not to be on those start lines with you (sic)." Her season has served hot and cold with the highlights including silver at the Kip Keino Classic, third at the Diamond League in Rabat, and winning the Prefontaine Classic with a season-best 1:56.19, defeating Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson.##NAJAVA_MECA_9947996##She followed that performance by winning a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow with a time of 2:00.58. Her final race of the season was on 21 August at the Lausanne Diamond League, where she finished seventh.In her absence, Werro will take on Olympic champion Hodgkinson who is set to return after a hamstring issue kept her out of Zurich and the Diamond League Final as well as Femke Broeders-Bol who has improved to 1:54.71 in her first season at the event and finished just 0.06 behind Werro in Brussels.Freshia Oduor set for dream opportunity alongside rugby idol at Ultimate 7s