LaShawn Merritt prize money
LaShawn Merritt has been paid $212,000 by the Diamond League, which ranks 91st of the 3,683 athletes the series has paid. It came from 25 paid finishes in the men's 400 m and men's 200 m, sixteen 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 25 paid figures add up because none of them contains another: a place is paid once, at that meeting, so $212,000 is 25 separate amounts rather than a running total. It is 0.2% of the $113,397,000 the 224 meetings on this site paid out between them.
Discipline by discipline
What each event has paid LaShawn Merritt
| DISCIPLINE | STARTS | WINS | YEARS | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men's 400 m | 24 | 16 | 2011 to 2017 | $206,000 |
| Men's 200 m | 1 | - | 2017 | $6,000 |
The men's 400 m has paid LaShawn Merritt $206,000 of the $212,000, which is 97% of everything the series has given him.
Season by season
2011 to 2017, in the order it was won
| SEASON | STARTS | WINS | BIGGEST | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 2 | - | DN Galan | $12,000 |
| 2012 | 2 | 2 | Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix | $20,000 |
| 2013 | 5 | 3 | Prefontaine Classic | $42,000 |
| 2014 | 6 | 5 | Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix | $56,000 |
| 2015 | 3 | 1 | Weltklasse Zürich | $20,000 |
| 2016 | 4 | 4 | Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix | $40,000 |
| 2017 | 3 | 1 | Prefontaine Classic | $22,000 |
season running total
2014 is the biggest of them, $56,000 from six starts. Every season from 2011 to 2017 paid him something. The dimmer column behind each season is the running total, which reaches $212,000.
Around LaShawn Merritt on the money list
Ranks 71 to 111
| # | ATHLETE | DISCIPLINE | WINS | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 71 | Tobi Amusan | Women's 100 m hurdles | 7 | $252,250 |
| 72 | David Oliver | Men's 110 m hurdles | 14 | $247,000 |
| 73 | Kendra Harrison | Women's 100 m hurdles | 14 | $246,750 |
| 74 | Nicola Olyslagers | Women's high jump | 10 | $244,917 |
| 75 | Malaika Mihambo | Women's long jump | 10 | $244,750 |
| 76 | Javier Culson | Men's 400 m hurdles | 13 | $243,500 |
| 77 | Francine Niyonsaba | three disciplines | 14 | $238,000 |
| 78 | Hagos Gebrhiwet | two disciplines | 10 | $235,000 |
| 79 | Nijel Amos | Men's 800 m | 13 | $233,500 |
| 80 | Andre De Grasse | two disciplines | 11 | $233,000 |
| 81 | Reese Hoffa | Men's shot put | 14 | $226,500 |
| 82 | Fabiana Murer | Women's pole vault | 13 | $223,000 |
| 83 | Paul Kipsiele Koech | two disciplines | 9 | $222,500 |
| 84 | Dawn Harper-Nelson | Women's 100 m hurdles | 15 | $220,500 |
| 85 | Amantle Montsho | Women's 400 m | 12 | $219,500 |
| 86 | Masai Russell | Women's 100 m hurdles | 8 | $219,500 |
| 87 | Yomif Kejelcha | three disciplines | 11 | $217,500 |
| 88 | Letsile Tebogo | two disciplines | 10 | $213,250 |
| 89 | Ayanleh Souleiman | four disciplines | 8 | $212,000 |
| 90 | Hyvin Jepkemoi | two disciplines | 8 | $212,000 |
| 91 | LaShawn Merritt | two disciplines | 16 | $212,000 |
| 92 | Andy Díaz | Men's triple jump | 10 | $211,500 |
| 93 | Thomas Röhler | Men's javelin throw | 9 | $211,250 |
| 94 | Shamier Little | two disciplines | 4 | $211,000 |
| 95 | Brittney Reese | Women's long jump | 12 | $210,500 |
| 96 | Jairus Kipchoge Birech | Men's 3000 m steeplechase | 10 | $208,000 |
| 97 | Gudaf Tsegay | five disciplines | 7 | $206,500 |
| 98 | Silas Kiplagat | two disciplines | 11 | $205,000 |
| 99 | Genzebe Dibaba | five disciplines | 12 | $204,500 |
| 100 | Danielle Williams | Women's 100 m hurdles | 7 | $204,250 |
| 101 | Yarisley Silva | Women's pole vault | 7 | $203,333 |
| 102 | Justin Gatlin | two disciplines | 16 | $203,250 |
| 103 | Kimberly Williams | Women's triple jump | 1 | $203,250 |
| 104 | Kyron McMaster | two disciplines | 3 | $202,250 |
| 105 | Christina Schwanitz | Women's shot put | 10 | $202,000 |
| 106 | Tero Pitkämäki | Men's javelin throw | 10 | $202,000 |
| 107 | Haruka Kitaguchi | Women's javelin throw | 11 | $199,500 |
| 108 | Faith Cherotich | Women's 3000 m steeplechase | 8 | $198,000 |
| 109 | Nina Kennedy | Women's pole vault | 11 | $197,500 |
| 110 | Winfred Yavi | two disciplines | 8 | $197,500 |
| 111 | Ajeé Wilson | Women's 800 m | 6 | $197,250 |
A slice of the same list the Diamond League hub ranks in full. LaShawn Merritt is 91st of the 3,683 athletes the 224 meetings on this site paid, on $212,000.
Who else was in the money
The rest of the eight, at the meetings that paid LaShawn Merritt most
Prefontaine Classic 2017 paid $10,000 for 1st in the 400 m, one of seven in the field. Also paid that afternoon: Baboloki Thebe, Vernon Norwood, Tony McQuay, Pavel Maslák, Paul Dedewo and Matthew Hudson-Smith.
Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix 2016 paid $10,000 for 1st in the 400 m, one of eight in the field. Also paid that afternoon: Machel Cedenio, Abdalelah Haroun, David Verburg, Tony McQuay, Isaac Makwala and Steven Gardiner.
Meeting International Mohammed VI d'Athlétisme de Rabat 2016 paid $10,000 for 1st in the 400 m, one of eight in the field. Also paid that afternoon: Kevin Borlée, Isaac Makwala, Christopher Brown, Nery Brenes, Rabah Yousif and Rusheen McDonald.
Frequently asked questions
How much Diamond League prize money has LaShawn Merritt won?
$212,000, which ranks 91st of the 3,683 athletes the series has paid across the 224 meetings on this site. It came from 25 paid finishes between 2011 and 2017.
What is LaShawn Merritt's biggest Diamond League payday?
$10,000, for finishing 1st in the 400 m at the 2017 Prefontaine Classic. 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 LaShawn Merritt 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 400 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 LaShawn Merritt won?
Sixteen of 25, worth $160,000 between them. He has not been paid at a Diamond League final.
Is this everything LaShawn Merritt 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 LaShawn Merritt is Hyvin Jepkemoi on $212,000, and one below Andy Díaz on $211,500. LaShawn Merritt 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 400 m prize money and men's 200 m prize money. The series has paid out in 21 men's disciplines and LaShawn Merritt 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 Prefontaine Classic has its own page across every edition of it.