Caster Semenya prize money
Caster Semenya has been paid $304,000 by the Diamond League, which ranks 45th of the 3,683 athletes the series has paid. It came from 29 paid finishes in the women's 800 m, women's 1500 m and women's 400 m, 20 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 she finished, and what the card paid for it
The 29 paid figures add up because none of them contains another: a place is paid once, at that meeting, so $304,000 is 29 separate amounts rather than a running total. It is 0.3% of the $113,397,000 the 224 meetings on this site paid out between them.
Discipline by discipline
What each event has paid Caster Semenya
| DISCIPLINE | STARTS | WINS | YEARS | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Women's 800 m | 25 | 18 | 2010 to 2019 | $280,500 |
| Women's 1500 m | 2 | 1 | 2018 | $12,000 |
| Women's 400 m | 2 | 1 | 2016 to 2017 | $11,500 |
The women's 800 m has paid Caster Semenya $280,500 of the $304,000, which is 92% of everything the series has given her.
Season by season
2010 to 2019, in the order it was won
| SEASON | STARTS | WINS | BIGGEST | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 1 | - | Memorial Van Damme | $4,000 |
| 2011 | 5 | 1 | Meeting Areva | $24,000 |
| 2012 | 1 | - | Golden Gala | $1,000 |
| 2013 | 1 | - | Weltklasse | $1,500 |
| 2014 | - | - | - | - |
| 2015 | - | - | - | - |
| 2016 | 6 | 6 | Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix | $60,000 |
| 2017 | 6 | 5 | Weltklasse Zürich | $91,500 |
| 2018 | 7 | 6 | Weltklasse Zürich | $102,000 |
| 2019 | 2 | 2 | Doha Diamond League | $20,000 |
season running total
2018 is the biggest of them, $102,000 from seven starts. No Diamond League meeting paid Caster Semenya in 2014 and 2015, so those columns stand at nothing. The dimmer column behind each season is the running total, which reaches $304,000.
Around Caster Semenya on the money list
Ranks 25 to 65
| # | ATHLETE | DISCIPLINE | WINS | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | Alison dos Santos | three disciplines | 22 | $380,500 |
| 26 | Elaine Thompson-Herah | two disciplines | 21 | $380,500 |
| 27 | Ivana Španović | two disciplines | 18 | $373,000 |
| 28 | Tom Walsh | Men's shot put | 13 | $372,000 |
| 29 | Pedro Pichardo | Men's triple jump | 17 | $370,500 |
| 30 | Barbora Špotáková | Women's javelin throw | 19 | $365,500 |
| 31 | Valerie Adams | Women's shot put | 30 | $361,500 |
| 32 | Daniel Ståhl | Men's discus throw | 13 | $355,750 |
| 33 | Jakob Ingebrigtsen | four disciplines | 19 | $348,000 |
| 34 | Chase Jackson | Women's shot put | 18 | $347,500 |
| 35 | Blessing Okagbare | three disciplines | 11 | $338,250 |
| 36 | Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce | two disciplines | 21 | $335,000 |
| 37 | Emmanuel Wanyonyi | two disciplines | 15 | $321,500 |
| 38 | Julien Alfred | two disciplines | 13 | $316,000 |
| 39 | Piotr Małachowski | Men's discus throw | 18 | $312,500 |
| 40 | Kirani James | Men's 400 m | 17 | $310,250 |
| 41 | Ryan Crouser | Men's shot put | 15 | $310,000 |
| 42 | Gong Lijiao | Women's shot put | 13 | $309,000 |
| 43 | Yaime Pérez | Women's discus throw | 8 | $307,500 |
| 44 | Conseslus Kipruto | two disciplines | 15 | $305,500 |
| 45 | Caster Semenya | three disciplines | 20 | $304,000 |
| 46 | Asbel Kiprop | four disciplines | 19 | $302,500 |
| 47 | Hellen Obiri | five disciplines | 13 | $301,000 |
| 48 | Sandi Morris | Women's pole vault | 12 | $300,500 |
| 49 | Kaliese Carter | two disciplines | 21 | $297,500 |
| 50 | Beatrice Chepkoech | three disciplines | 11 | $297,000 |
| 51 | Salwa Eid Naser | two disciplines | 13 | $296,500 |
| 52 | Katie Moon | Women's pole vault | 11 | $292,875 |
| 53 | Orlando Ortega | Men's 110 m hurdles | 11 | $287,500 |
| 54 | Kenny Bednarek | two disciplines | 13 | $286,500 |
| 55 | Allyson Felix | three disciplines | 19 | $283,250 |
| 56 | Jakub Vadlejch | Men's javelin throw | 9 | $281,750 |
| 57 | Shanieka Ricketts | Women's triple jump | 8 | $281,250 |
| 58 | Fred Kerley | three disciplines | 11 | $280,250 |
| 59 | Zuzana Hejnová | Women's 400 m hurdles | 16 | $272,000 |
| 60 | Dafne Schippers | two disciplines | 11 | $271,000 |
| 61 | Dalilah Muhammad | Women's 400 m hurdles | 10 | $270,500 |
| 62 | Sergey Shubenkov | Men's 110 m hurdles | 7 | $268,000 |
| 63 | Laura Muir | five disciplines | 11 | $266,750 |
| 64 | Yulimar Rojas | two disciplines | 13 | $266,000 |
| 65 | Miltiadis Tentoglou | Men's long jump | 12 | $263,500 |
A slice of the same list the Diamond League hub ranks in full. Caster Semenya is 45th of the 3,683 athletes the 224 meetings on this site paid, on $304,000.
Who else was in the money
The rest of the eight, at the meetings that paid Caster Semenya most
Weltklasse Zürich 2018 paid $50,000 for 1st in the 800 m, one of eight in the field. Also paid that afternoon: Ajeé Wilson, Natoya Goule-Toppin, Habitam Alemu, Raevyn Rogers, Francine Niyonsaba and Selina Büchel.
Weltklasse Zürich 2017 paid $50,000 for 1st in the 800 m, one of eight in the field. Also paid that afternoon: Francine Niyonsaba, Margaret Wambui, Habitam Alemu, Sifan Hassan, Charlene Lipsey and Melissa Bishop-Nriagu.
Doha Diamond League 2019 paid $10,000 for 1st in the 800 m, one of eleven in the field. Also paid that afternoon: Francine Niyonsaba, Ajeé Wilson, Nelly Jepkosgei, Raevyn Rogers, Margaret Wambui and Habitam Alemu.
Frequently asked questions
How much Diamond League prize money has Caster Semenya won?
$304,000, which ranks 45th of the 3,683 athletes the series has paid across the 224 meetings on this site. It came from 29 paid finishes between 2010 and 2019.
What is Caster Semenya's biggest Diamond League payday?
$50,000, for finishing 1st in the 800 m at the 2018 Weltklasse Zürich. 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 Caster Semenya gets paid?
Entirely by where she 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 women's 800 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 Caster Semenya won?
20 of 29, worth $280,000 between them. Two of her appearances came at a final, which paid $100,000.
Is this everything Caster Semenya earns from athletics?
No. This is the Diamond League, which is one series of 224 meetings. It holds no championship prize money, no national federation payment, no appearance fee and no sponsorship. What it does hold is every dollar the series itself paid her, 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 Caster Semenya is Conseslus Kipruto on $305,500, and one below Asbel Kiprop on $302,500. Caster Semenya is one of 54 South Africa athletes athletics has paid, and South Africa athletics prize money adds them up to $2,356,250 across all six competitions. For the event itself, see women's 800 m prize money, women's 1500 m prize money and women's 400 m prize money. The series has paid out in 20 women's disciplines and Caster Semenya has been paid in three of them. The biggest of the rest are women's 100 m, women's 100 m hurdles and women's 200 m. Every meeting she has raced is linked in the table at the top of this page, and Doha Diamond League has its own page across every edition of it.