Gong Lijiao prize money
Gong Lijiao has been paid $309,000 by the Diamond League, which ranks 42nd of the 3,683 athletes the series has paid. It came from 26 paid finishes in the women's shot put, thirteen 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 26 paid figures add up because none of them contains another: a place is paid once, at that meeting, so $309,000 is 26 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.
The World Championships
What Gong Lijiao did in Tokyo, 2025
| EVENT | PLACE | MARK | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|
| Women's shot put | 9th | 18.96 | - |
Gong Lijiao stood in one 2025 World Championships final in Tokyo and finished outside the money. The championships pay eight places, $70,000 for a title down to $5,000 for 8th, and nothing at all below that. The championships page holds all 49 events and the $8,498,000 they paid out.
The World Indoor Championships
What Gong Lijiao did indoors
| EVENT | PLACE | MARK | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|
| Women's shot put | 5th | 18.84 m | $6,000 |
The World Indoor Championships have paid Gong Lijiao $6,000 for one finish in Nanjing 2025, against $309,000 from 26 Diamond League starts between 2010 and 2025. The indoor championships page holds all 53 finals across two editions and the $4,632,000 they paid out.
Season by season
2010 to 2025, in the order it was won
| SEASON | STARTS | WINS | BIGGEST | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 2 | - | Shanghai Diamond League | $8,000 |
| 2011 | 2 | 1 | Shanghai Golden Grand Prix | $14,000 |
| 2012 | 1 | - | Golden Gala | $6,000 |
| 2013 | 2 | - | Golden Grand Prix | $12,000 |
| 2014 | 2 | - | Athletissima | $10,000 |
| 2015 | 2 | 1 | Shanghai Golden Grand Prix | $16,000 |
| 2016 | - | - | - | - |
| 2017 | 4 | 4 | Weltklasse Zürich | $80,000 |
| 2018 | 3 | 3 | AG Memorial Van Damme | $70,000 |
| 2019 | 4 | 3 | Weltklasse Zürich | $76,000 |
| 2020 | - | - | - | - |
| 2021 | - | - | - | - |
| 2022 | - | - | - | - |
| 2023 | - | - | - | - |
| 2024 | 2 | 1 | Xiamen Diamond League | $12,000 |
| 2025 | 2 | - | Xiamen Diamond League | $5,000 |
season running total
2017 is the biggest of them, $80,000 from four starts. No Diamond League meeting paid Gong Lijiao in 2016, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023, so those columns stand at nothing. The dimmer column behind each season is the running total, which reaches $309,000.
Around Gong Lijiao on the money list
Ranks 22 to 62
| # | ATHLETE | DISCIPLINE | WINS | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | Valarie Sion | Women's discus throw | 20 | $389,000 |
| 23 | Soufiane El Bakkali | four disciplines | 22 | $388,500 |
| 24 | Yaroslava Mahuchikh | Women's high jump | 21 | $382,250 |
| 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 |
A slice of the same list the Diamond League hub ranks in full. Gong Lijiao is 42nd of the 3,683 athletes the 224 meetings on this site paid, on $309,000.
Who else was in the money
The rest of the eight, at the meetings that paid Gong Lijiao most
Weltklasse Zürich 2019 paid $50,000 for 1st in the shot put, one of eight in the field. Also paid that afternoon: Chase Jackson, Christina Schwanitz, Aliona Dubitskaya, Brittany Crew, Danniel Thomas-Dodd and Fanny Roos.
AG Memorial Van Damme 2018 paid $50,000 for 1st in the shot put, one of eight in the field. Also paid that afternoon: Raven Saunders, Christina Schwanitz, Aliona Dubitskaya, Paulina Guba, Danniel Thomas-Dodd and Melissa Boekelman.
Weltklasse Zürich 2017 paid $50,000 for 1st in the shot put, one of eight in the field. Also paid that afternoon: Anita Márton, Yuliya Leantsiuk, Michelle Carter, Daniella Hill, Aliona Dubitskaya and Cleopatra Borel.
Frequently asked questions
How much Diamond League prize money has Gong Lijiao won?
$309,000, which ranks 42nd of the 3,683 athletes the series has paid across the 224 meetings on this site. It came from 26 paid finishes between 2010 and 2025.
What is Gong Lijiao's biggest Diamond League payday?
$50,000, for finishing 1st in the shot put at the 2019 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 Gong Lijiao 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 shot put 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 Gong Lijiao won?
Thirteen of 26, worth $250,000 between them. Three of her appearances came at a final, which paid $150,000.
How much has Gong Lijiao won at the World Indoor Championships?
$6,000, from one paid final in Nanjing 2025. An indoor title pays $40,000 and the ladder runs six places deep, down to $4,000 for 6th, the same in every event on the programme and the same for a relay team.
Is this everything Gong Lijiao earns from athletics?
No. This is the Diamond League, which is one series of 224 meetings. The World Indoor 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 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 Gong Lijiao is Ryan Crouser on $310,000, and one below Yaime Pérez on $307,500. Gong Lijiao is one of 114 China athletes athletics has paid, and China athletics prize money adds them up to $1,813,250 across all six competitions. For the event itself, see women's shot put prize money. The series has paid out in 20 women's disciplines and Gong Lijiao has been paid in one of them. The biggest of the rest are women's 100 m, women's 100 m hurdles and women's 400 m. Every meeting she has raced is linked in the table at the top of this page, and Xiamen Diamond League 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 women's shot put 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 women's shot put page.