Birhanu Balew prize money
Birhanu Balew has been paid $110,750 by the Diamond League, which ranks 279th of the 3,683 athletes the series has paid. It came from 21 paid finishes in the men's 5000 m and men's 3000 m, three of them wins.
The Diamond League pays by finishing place and nothing else. A published card sets what first through eighth is worth, the same figure in every discipline at that meeting, and ninth pays nothing.
Every payment
Where he finished, and what the card paid for it
The 21 paid figures add up because none of them contains another: a place is paid once, at that meeting, so $110,750 is 21 separate amounts rather than a running total. It is 0.10% of the $113,397,000 the 224 meetings on this site paid out between them. Seven of the 28 starts paid nothing, because the series pays eight deep and the fields run past twenty.
The World Championships
What Birhanu Balew did in Tokyo, 2025
| EVENT | PLACE | MARK | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's 5000 metres | 7th | 13:00.55 | $6,000 |
The 2025 World Championships paid Birhanu Balew $6,000 for one finish in Tokyo, against $110,750 from 28 Diamond League starts between 2017 and 2026. The championships page holds all 49 events and the $8,498,000 they paid out.
Discipline by discipline
What each event has paid Birhanu Balew
| DISCIPLINE | STARTS | WINS | YEARS | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men's 5000 m | 21 | 3 | 2018 to 2026 | $98,250 |
| Men's 3000 m | 7 | - | 2017 to 2026 | $12,500 |
The men's 5000 m has paid Birhanu Balew $98,250 of the $110,750, which is 89% of everything the series has given him.
Season by season
2017 to 2026, in the order it was won
| SEASON | STARTS | WINS | BIGGEST | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 1 | - | Doha Diamond League | - |
| 2018 | 4 | 1 | Athletissima | $25,000 |
| 2019 | 5 | - | IAAF Diamond League Shanghai | $8,500 |
| 2020 | - | - | - | - |
| 2021 | 3 | - | Bislett Games | $4,750 |
| 2022 | - | - | - | - |
| 2023 | 1 | - | Athletissima | $1,000 |
| 2024 | 2 | - | Xiamen Diamond League | $3,500 |
| 2025 | 5 | - | Meeting de Paris | $14,000 |
| 2026 | 7 | 2 | AG Memorial Van Damme | $54,000 |
season running total
2026 is the biggest of them, $54,000 from seven starts. No Diamond League meeting paid Birhanu Balew in 2017, 2020 and 2022, so those columns stand at nothing. The dimmer column behind each season is the running total, which reaches $110,750.
Around Birhanu Balew on the money list
Ranks 259 to 299
| # | ATHLETE | DISCIPLINE | WINS | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 259 | Brimin Kiprop Kipruto | Men's 3000 m steeplechase | 6 | $117,500 |
| 260 | JuVaughn Harrison | two disciplines | 4 | $117,250 |
| 261 | Henriette Jæger | two disciplines | 3 | $116,500 |
| 262 | Sha'Carri Richardson | two disciplines | 5 | $116,250 |
| 263 | Yasmani Copello | Men's 400 m hurdles | 2 | $116,250 |
| 264 | Malte Mohr | Men's pole vault | 3 | $116,000 |
| 265 | Rumesh Tharanga | Men's javelin throw | 5 | $116,000 |
| 266 | Lorraine Ugen | Women's long jump | 2 | $115,000 |
| 267 | Woo Sang-hyeok | Men's high jump | 5 | $113,750 |
| 268 | Anna Cockrell | Women's 400 m hurdles | 4 | $113,500 |
| 269 | Godfrey Khotso Mokoena | two disciplines | 3 | $113,000 |
| 270 | Kelsey-Lee Barber | Women's javelin throw | 1 | $113,000 |
| 271 | Magnus Kirt | Men's javelin throw | 2 | $112,500 |
| 272 | Jesse Williams | Men's high jump | 3 | $112,083 |
| 273 | Angelica Moser | Women's pole vault | 2 | $111,875 |
| 274 | Darya Klishina | Women's long jump | 3 | $111,500 |
| 275 | Robbie Grabarz | Men's high jump | 2 | $111,458 |
| 276 | Ronnie Baker | Men's 100 m | 6 | $111,250 |
| 277 | Devon Allen | Men's 110 m hurdles | 4 | $111,000 |
| 278 | Erik Kynard | Men's high jump | 2 | $111,000 |
| 279 | Birhanu Balew | two disciplines | 3 | $110,750 |
| 280 | Eilidh Doyle | Women's 400 m hurdles | 2 | $110,500 |
| 281 | Nesta Carter | Men's 100 m | 2 | $110,500 |
| 282 | Jenn Suhr | Women's pole vault | 5 | $110,250 |
| 283 | Aleksandr Menkov | Men's long jump | 8 | $110,000 |
| 284 | Wayde van Niekerk | two disciplines | 9 | $110,000 |
| 285 | Angelo Taylor | three disciplines | 5 | $109,500 |
| 286 | Ruth Jebet | Women's 3000 m steeplechase | 5 | $109,000 |
| 287 | Ackera Nugent | Women's 100 m hurdles | 3 | $108,000 |
| 288 | Jenna Prandini | two disciplines | 1 | $107,500 |
| 289 | CJ Ujah | two disciplines | 1 | $106,500 |
| 290 | Jereem Richards | two disciplines | - | $106,500 |
| 291 | Monae' Nichols | Women's long jump | 2 | $106,500 |
| 292 | Kerron Stewart | two disciplines | 3 | $106,000 |
| 293 | Anna Ryzhykova | two disciplines | - | $105,500 |
| 294 | Cameron Myers | three disciplines | 2 | $105,500 |
| 295 | Melissa Jefferson-Wooden | two disciplines | 6 | $105,500 |
| 296 | Mohammed Aman | Men's 800 m | 7 | $105,500 |
| 297 | Paweł Wojciechowski | Men's pole vault | 2 | $105,500 |
| 298 | Steven Gardiner | two disciplines | 9 | $105,500 |
| 299 | Anita Márton | Women's shot put | - | $105,000 |
A slice of the same list the Diamond League hub ranks in full. Birhanu Balew is 279th of the 3,683 athletes the 224 meetings on this site paid, on $110,750.
Who else was in the money
The rest of the eight, at the meetings that paid Birhanu Balew most
AG Memorial Van Damme 2026 paid $30,000 for 1st in the 5000 m, one of ten in the field. Also paid that afternoon: Egide Ntakarutimana, Cornelius Kemboi, Biniam Mehary, Graham Blanks, Nico Young and Jacob Krop.
Athletissima 2026 paid $10,000 for 1st in the 5000 m, one of 18 in the field. Also paid that afternoon: Parker Wolfe, Nico Young, Graham Blanks, Cornelius Kemboi, Mezgebu Sime and Kuma Girma.
Athletissima 2018 paid $10,000 for 1st in the 5000 m, one of eight in the field. Also paid that afternoon: Selemon Barega, Abadi Hadis, Getaneh Molla, Richard Yator, Muktar Edris and Telahun Haile Bekele.
Frequently asked questions
How much Diamond League prize money has Birhanu Balew won?
$110,750, which ranks 279th of the 3,683 athletes the series has paid across the 224 meetings on this site. It came from 21 paid finishes between 2017 and 2026.
What is Birhanu Balew's biggest Diamond League payday?
$30,000, for finishing 1st in the 5000 m at the 2026 AG Memorial Van Damme. That is a final, which is why it is the biggest: the final pays two to five times what the same place is worth at a series meeting.
How does the Diamond League decide what Birhanu Balew gets paid?
Entirely by where he finishes. The series publishes one rate card a season and applies it to every discipline at every meeting, so a win is worth the same in the men's 5000 m as it is in the shot put on the same afternoon. Eight places are paid and ninth pays nothing. There is no bonus for a record and no share of a gate.
How many Diamond League meetings has Birhanu Balew won?
Three of 28, worth $50,000 between them. One of his appearance came at a final, which paid $30,000.
Has Birhanu Balew ever raced a Diamond League meeting for nothing?
Seven times. The series pays the first eight and the fields run past twenty, so a ninth place is a Diamond League start that paid nothing at all. Those starts are in the result tables on this site either way.
How much did Birhanu Balew win at the 2025 World Championships?
$6,000, from one paid final in Tokyo. The championships pay eight places in every event, $70,000 for a title down to $5,000 for 8th.
Is this everything Birhanu Balew earns from athletics?
No. This is the Diamond League, which is one series of 224 meetings. The World Championships money above is separate money from a separate payer, and none of it is added together here. It holds no national federation payment, no appearance fee and no sponsorship. What it does hold is every dollar the series itself paid him, priced off the card it published.
Where to next
The rest of the Diamond League money
Diamond League prize money ranks all 3,683 athletes across the $113,397,000 the 224 meetings on this site paid out. One place above Birhanu Balew is Erik Kynard on $111,000, and one below Eilidh Doyle on $110,500. Birhanu Balew is one of 18 Bahrain athletes athletics has paid, and Bahrain athletics prize money adds them up to $1,047,250 across all six competitions. For the event itself, see men's 5000 m prize money and men's 3000 m prize money. The series has paid out in 21 men's disciplines and Birhanu Balew has been paid in two of them. The biggest of the rest are men's 100 m, men's pole vault and men's 800 m. Every meeting he has raced is linked in the table at the top of this page, and AG Memorial Van Damme has its own page across every edition of it. Away from the series, World Championships prize money is Tokyo 2025, $8,498,000 paid eight places deep in every event, and the full final is on the men's 5000 metres page.