Joe Kovacs prize money
Joe Kovacs has been paid $406,500 by the Diamond League, which ranks 19th of the 3,683 athletes the series has paid. It came from 61 paid finishes in the men's shot put, 18 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 61 paid figures add up because none of them contains another: a place is paid once, at that meeting, so $406,500 is 61 separate amounts rather than a running total. It is 0.4% of the $113,397,000 the 224 meetings on this site paid out between them.
The Olympic Games
What Joe Kovacs won in Paris
| EVENT | MEDAL | EARNED |
|---|---|---|
| Men's shot put | Silver | - |
The silver in the men's shot put paid nothing. Only a gold pays, so 97 of the 145 medals awarded on the athletics programme in Paris carried no money at all. The Olympic page holds all 48 golds, the $2,400,000 they paid and what the circuit pays the same champions.
Season by season
2012 to 2026, in the order it was won
| SEASON | STARTS | WINS | BIGGEST | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 2 | - | Meeting Areva | $8,000 |
| 2013 | 2 | - | Adidas Grand Prix | $5,000 |
| 2014 | 7 | 1 | ExxonMobil Bislett Games | $33,000 |
| 2015 | 6 | 3 | Prefontaine Classic | $43,000 |
| 2016 | 6 | 3 | Prefontaine Classic | $39,000 |
| 2017 | 3 | - | AG Memorial Van Damme | $15,500 |
| 2018 | 2 | - | Bislett Games | $2,500 |
| 2019 | 5 | - | Meeting de Paris | $15,500 |
| 2020 | - | - | - | - |
| 2021 | 3 | - | Weltklasse Zürich | $16,750 |
| 2022 | 5 | 4 | Weltklasse Zürich | $66,000 |
| 2023 | 4 | 1 | Prefontaine Classic | $36,250 |
| 2024 | 5 | 2 | Prefontaine Classic | $26,000 |
| 2025 | 6 | 3 | Weltklasse Zürich | $63,000 |
| 2026 | 5 | 1 | Meeting International Mohammed VI d'Athlétisme de Rabat | $37,000 |
season running total
2022 is the biggest of them, $66,000 from five starts. No Diamond League meeting paid Joe Kovacs in 2020, so that column stands at nothing. The dimmer column behind each season is the running total, which reaches $406,500.
Around Joe Kovacs on the money list
Ranks 1 to 41
| # | ATHLETE | DISCIPLINE | WINS | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sandra Elkasević | Women's discus throw | 46 | $692,750 |
| 2 | Armand Duplantis | Men's pole vault | 35 | $607,250 |
| 3 | Noah Lyles | two disciplines | 24 | $530,000 |
| 4 | Christian Taylor | three disciplines | 28 | $512,250 |
| 5 | Caterine Ibargüen | two disciplines | 37 | $501,000 |
| 6 | Sam Kendricks | Men's pole vault | 18 | $481,917 |
| 7 | Renaud Lavillenie | Men's pole vault | 33 | $466,833 |
| 8 | Femke Broeders-Bol | three disciplines | 29 | $456,000 |
| 9 | Mariya Lasitskene | Women's high jump | 26 | $440,500 |
| 10 | Shericka Jackson | three disciplines | 19 | $429,250 |
| 11 | Karsten Warholm | three disciplines | 18 | $428,500 |
| 12 | Sifan Hassan | five disciplines | 16 | $424,250 |
| 13 | Faith Kipyegon | six disciplines | 23 | $423,000 |
| 14 | Marileidy Paulino | two disciplines | 25 | $420,500 |
| 15 | Marie Josée Ta Lou-Smith | two disciplines | 11 | $417,250 |
| 16 | Timothy Cheruiyot | four disciplines | 17 | $416,500 |
| 17 | Shaunae Miller-Uibo | three disciplines | 21 | $415,000 |
| 18 | Mutaz Barsham | Men's high jump | 23 | $409,833 |
| 19 | Joe Kovacs | Men's shot put | 18 | $406,500 |
| 20 | Dina Asher-Smith | two disciplines | 10 | $401,500 |
| 21 | Katerina Stefanidi | Women's pole vault | 15 | $394,500 |
| 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 |
A slice of the same list the Diamond League hub ranks in full. Joe Kovacs is 19th of the 3,683 athletes the 224 meetings on this site paid, on $406,500.
Who else was in the money
The rest of the eight, at the meetings that paid Joe Kovacs most
Weltklasse Zürich 2025 paid $30,000 for 1st in the shot put, one of seven in the field. Also paid that afternoon: Payton Otterdahl, Rajindra Campbell, Adrian Piperi, Tom Walsh, Leonardo Fabbri and Stefan Wieland.
Prefontaine Classic 2023 paid $30,000 for 1st in the shot put, one of six in the field. Also paid that afternoon: Ryan Crouser, Tom Walsh, Leonardo Fabbri, Payton Otterdahl and Filip Mihaljević.
Weltklasse Zürich 2022 paid $30,000 for 1st in the shot put, one of six in the field. Also paid that afternoon: Ryan Crouser, Tom Walsh, Jacko Gill, Filip Mihaljević and Nick Ponzio.
Frequently asked questions
How much Diamond League prize money has Joe Kovacs won?
$406,500, which ranks 19th of the 3,683 athletes the series has paid across the 224 meetings on this site. It came from 61 paid finishes between 2012 and 2026.
What is Joe Kovacs's biggest Diamond League payday?
$30,000, for finishing 1st in the shot put at the 2025 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 Joe Kovacs 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 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 Joe Kovacs won?
18 of 61, worth $250,000 between them. Seven of his appearances came at a final, which paid $121,000.
Is this everything Joe Kovacs 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 Joe Kovacs is Mutaz Barsham on $409,833, and one below Dina Asher-Smith on $401,500. Joe Kovacs 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 shot put prize money. The series has paid out in 21 men's disciplines and Joe Kovacs has been paid in one 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 Meeting International Mohammed VI d'Athlétisme de Rabat has its own page across every edition of it.