Chris Nilsen prize money
Chris Nilsen has been paid $96,750 by the Diamond League, which ranks 331st of the 3,683 athletes the series has paid. It came from 27 paid finishes in the men's pole vault, two 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 27 paid figures add up because none of them contains another: a place is paid once, at that meeting, so $96,750 is 27 separate amounts rather than a running total. It is 0.09% of the $113,397,000 the 224 meetings on this site paid out between them. Two of the 29 starts paid nothing, because the series pays eight deep and the fields run past twenty.
The Ultimate Championship
What Chris Nilsen did in Budapest, 2026
| EVENT | PLACE | MARK | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's pole vault | 8th | 5.80 m | - |
Chris Nilsen stood in one Ultimate Championship final in Budapest and finished outside the money. World Athletics pays the first three in each event, $150,000, $75,000 and $40,000, and publishes no rate below third, so there is no figure to put against where he finished. The championship page holds all 28 events and what each one paid.
The World Indoor Championships
What Chris Nilsen did indoors
| EVENT | PLACE | MARK | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's pole vault | =9th | 5.70 | - |
Chris Nilsen stood in one World Indoor Championships final and finished outside the money. The championships pay six places, $40,000 for a title down to $4,000 for 6th, and nothing at all below that. The indoor championships page holds all 53 finals across two editions and the $4,632,000 they paid out.
Season by season
2019 to 2026, in the order it was won
| SEASON | STARTS | WINS | BIGGEST | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 2 | - | Weltklasse Zürich | $7,000 |
| 2020 | - | - | - | - |
| 2021 | 5 | 1 | Athletissima | $23,000 |
| 2022 | 5 | - | Weltklasse Zürich | $24,500 |
| 2023 | 6 | 1 | Herculis EBS | $24,750 |
| 2024 | 7 | - | AG Memorial Van Damme | $6,000 |
| 2025 | - | - | - | - |
| 2026 | 4 | - | Doha Diamond League | $11,500 |
season running total
2023 is the biggest of them, $24,750 from six starts. No Diamond League meeting paid Chris Nilsen in 2020 and 2025, so those columns stand at nothing. The dimmer column behind each season is the running total, which reaches $96,750.
Around Chris Nilsen on the money list
Ranks 311 to 351
| # | ATHLETE | DISCIPLINE | WINS | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 311 | Omar McLeod | two disciplines | 7 | $102,500 |
| 312 | Rajindra Campbell | Men's shot put | 2 | $102,500 |
| 313 | Lukas Weißhaidinger | Men's discus throw | - | $102,000 |
| 314 | Tiffany Porter | Women's 100 m hurdles | 1 | $102,000 |
| 315 | Ehsan Haddadi | Men's discus throw | 1 | $101,500 |
| 316 | Alexander Ogando | two disciplines | 2 | $101,250 |
| 317 | Ezekiel Kemboi | Men's 3000 m steeplechase | 7 | $101,000 |
| 318 | Kamila Lićwinko | Women's high jump | 2 | $101,000 |
| 319 | Trey Cunningham | Men's 110 m hurdles | 3 | $100,750 |
| 320 | Holly Bradshaw | Women's pole vault | - | $100,083 |
| 321 | Teddy Tamgho | Men's triple jump | 6 | $99,500 |
| 322 | Lieke Klaver | Women's 400 m | - | $98,750 |
| 323 | Fabrice Lapierre | Men's long jump | 2 | $98,000 |
| 324 | Juan Miguel Echevarría | Men's long jump | 4 | $98,000 |
| 325 | Gia Lewis-Smallwood | Women's discus throw | 1 | $97,500 |
| 326 | Adriana Vilagoš | Women's javelin throw | 2 | $97,250 |
| 327 | Donald Thomas | Men's high jump | 1 | $97,208 |
| 328 | Feng Bin | Women's discus throw | 3 | $97,000 |
| 329 | Kellie Wells | Women's 100 m hurdles | 2 | $97,000 |
| 330 | Tyson Gay | two disciplines | 8 | $97,000 |
| 331 | Chris Nilsen | Men's pole vault | 2 | $96,750 |
| 332 | Emma Zapletalová | Women's 400 m hurdles | 5 | $96,500 |
| 333 | Joshua Cheptegei | three disciplines | 2 | $96,500 |
| 334 | Shannon Rowbury | four disciplines | 2 | $96,500 |
| 335 | Julius Yego | Men's javelin throw | 2 | $96,000 |
| 336 | Zharnel Hughes | two disciplines | 2 | $95,500 |
| 337 | Mujinga Kambundji | two disciplines | 1 | $95,250 |
| 338 | Ronald Levy | Men's 110 m hurdles | 3 | $94,750 |
| 339 | Cleopatra Borel | Women's shot put | - | $94,500 |
| 340 | Yargelis Savigne | two disciplines | 7 | $94,500 |
| 341 | Jorinde van Klinken | two disciplines | 1 | $94,000 |
| 342 | Lamecha Girma | five disciplines | 6 | $94,000 |
| 343 | Sanya Richards-Ross | two disciplines | 5 | $93,500 |
| 344 | Luguelín Santos | Men's 400 m | 1 | $93,000 |
| 345 | Amy Hunt | two disciplines | - | $92,500 |
| 346 | Christophe Lemaitre | two disciplines | 1 | $92,500 |
| 347 | Chaunte Lowe | Women's high jump | 5 | $92,000 |
| 348 | Berihu Aregawi | three disciplines | 4 | $91,750 |
| 349 | Peruth Chemutai | Women's 3000 m steeplechase | 3 | $91,750 |
| 350 | L. J. van Zyl | Men's 400 m hurdles | 2 | $91,500 |
| 351 | Niels Laros | three disciplines | 3 | $91,000 |
A slice of the same list the Diamond League hub ranks in full. Chris Nilsen is 331st of the 3,683 athletes the 224 meetings on this site paid, on $96,750.
Who else was in the money
The rest of the eight, at the meetings that paid Chris Nilsen most
Herculis EBS 2023 paid $10,000 for 1st in the pole vault, one of twelve in the field. Also paid that afternoon: EJ Obiena, Kurtis Marschall, Sam Kendricks, Armand Duplantis, Bo Kanda Lita Baehre and Pål Haugen Lillefosse.
Athletissima 2021 paid $10,000 for 1st in the pole vault, one of ten in the field. Also paid that afternoon: Sam Kendricks, Timur Morgunov, Armand Duplantis, Ethan Cormont, KC Lightfoot and EJ Obiena.
Weltklasse Zürich 2022 paid $7,000 for 3rd in the pole vault, one of seven in the field. Also paid that afternoon: Renaud Lavillenie, Ben Broeders, Thiago Braz, Dominik Alberto, Armand Duplantis and Sondre Guttormsen.
Frequently asked questions
How much Diamond League prize money has Chris Nilsen won?
$96,750, which ranks 331st of the 3,683 athletes the series has paid across the 224 meetings on this site. It came from 27 paid finishes between 2019 and 2026.
What is Chris Nilsen's biggest Diamond League payday?
$10,000, for finishing 1st in the pole vault at the 2023 Herculis EBS. The Diamond League pays by place rather than by performance, so that figure is what the card in force that season paid for 1st and would have paid anybody who finished there.
How does the Diamond League decide what Chris Nilsen 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 pole vault 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 Chris Nilsen won?
Two of 29, worth $20,000 between them. Five of his appearances came at a final, which paid $18,000.
Has Chris Nilsen ever raced a Diamond League meeting for nothing?
Two 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.
Is this everything Chris Nilsen 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 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 Chris Nilsen is Tyson Gay on $97,000, and one below Emma Zapletalová on $96,500. Chris Nilsen is one of 659 United States athletes athletics has paid, and United States athletics prize money adds them up to $29,436,125 across all six competitions. For the event itself, see men's pole vault prize money. The series has paid out in 21 men's disciplines and Chris Nilsen has been paid in one of them. The biggest of the rest are men's 100 m, men's 800 m and men's 200 m. Every meeting he 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. Ultimate Championship prize money is the 2026 championship in Budapest, $10,000,000 over three days, and the full final is on the men's pole vault page. Indoor championships prize money is the Nanjing 2025 and Toruń 2026 championships, $4,664,000 put up across 53 finals, and the indoor final is on the men's pole vault page.