Lythe Pillay prize money
Lythe Pillay has been paid $9,500 by the Diamond League, which ranks 864th of the 2,112 athletes the series has paid. It came from five paid finishes in the men's 400 m, the best of them 3rd.
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
| MEETING | DISCIPLINE | PLACE | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xiamen Diamond League 2025 | 400 m | 7th | $1,500 |
| Diamond League Shanghai 2025 | 400 m | 7th | $1,500 |
| Herculis 2024 | 400 m | 3rd | $3,500 |
| Meeting International Mohammed VI d'Athlétisme de Rabat 2024 | 400 m | 4th | $2,000 |
| Bislett Games 2024 | 400 m | 6th | $1,000 |
| All five | Men's 400 m | — | $9,500 |
The five paid figures add up because none of them contains another: a place is paid once, at that meeting, so $9,500 is five separate amounts rather than a running total. It is 0.02% of the $53,753,250 the 104 meetings on this site paid out between them.
The World Championships
What Lythe Pillay did in Tokyo, 2025
Lythe Pillay went to the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo on a relay and ran no individual final there. He ran on the South Africa team that finished 3rd in the men's 4 × 400 metres relay, $20,000 to the federation rather than to any one of the four. The championships page holds all 49 events and the $8,498,000 they paid out.
The World Athletics Relays
What Lythe Pillay ran on
| EVENT | PLACE | MARK | TEAM PAID |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's 4 × 400 metres relay | 2nd | 2:55.07 | $20,000 |
The World Relays have paid $20,000 for the one team Lythe Pillay ran on in Gaborone 2026, and all of it went to South Africa rather than to the four who ran. The $9,500 at the top of this page is what the Diamond League paid him. This is what World Athletics paid a country, and the two are not added together anywhere on the site. No team he ran on won its final, and the ladder paid the teams anyway: it reaches all eight teams in a final, $40,000 for a title down to $2,000 for 8th, so reaching one is the run that pays. He ran alongside Mthi Mthimkulu and Zakithi Nene, and the Diamond League has paid every one of them too. The World Relays page holds all 12 finals across two championships and the $1,067,000 they paid out.
Season by season
2024 to 2025, in the order it was won
season running total
2024 is the biggest of them, $6,500 from three starts. Every season from 2024 to 2025 paid him something. The dimmer column behind each season is the running total, which reaches $9,500.
Around Lythe Pillay on the money list
Ranks 844 to 884
| # | ATHLETE | DISCIPLINE | WINS | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 844 | Sanghyeok Woo | Men's high jump | 1 | $10,000 |
| 845 | Seito Yamamoto | Men's pole vault | — | $10,000 |
| 846 | Tate Taylor | Men's 200 m | 1 | $10,000 |
| 847 | Valerie Adams | Women's shot put | 1 | $10,000 |
| 848 | Zenéy Geldenhuys | Women's 400 m hurdles | — | $10,000 |
| 849 | Zhang Mingkun | Men's long jump | 1 | $10,000 |
| 850 | Amandine Brossier | Women's 400 m | — | $9,750 |
| 851 | Attila Molnár | Men's 400 m | — | $9,750 |
| 852 | Elizabeth Bird | Women's 3000 m steeplechase | — | $9,750 |
| 853 | Eusebio Cáceres | Men's long jump | — | $9,750 |
| 854 | Neil Gourley | two disciplines | — | $9,750 |
| 855 | Noélie Yarigo | two disciplines | — | $9,750 |
| 856 | Brianna McNeal | Women's 100 m hurdles | — | $9,500 |
| 857 | Churandy Martina | two disciplines | — | $9,500 |
| 858 | Conseslus Kipruto | two disciplines | — | $9,500 |
| 859 | Davide Re | Men's 400 m | — | $9,500 |
| 860 | Javianne Oliver | Women's 100 m | — | $9,500 |
| 861 | Jenny Simpson | two disciplines | — | $9,500 |
| 862 | Kyra Jefferson | two disciplines | — | $9,500 |
| 863 | Lexy Halladay-Lowry | Women's 3000 m steeplechase | — | $9,500 |
| 864 | Lythe Pillay | Men's 400 m | — | $9,500 |
| 865 | Tarsis Orogot | Men's 200 m | — | $9,500 |
| 866 | Teahna Daniels | two disciplines | — | $9,500 |
| 867 | Tobias Grønstad | Men's 800 m | — | $9,500 |
| 868 | Jeron Robinson | Men's high jump | — | $9,250 |
| 869 | Nastassia Mironchyk-Ivanova | Women's long jump | — | $9,250 |
| 870 | Robbie Grabarz | Men's high jump | — | $9,250 |
| 871 | Rohan Watson | Men's 100 m | — | $9,250 |
| 872 | Ryoichi Akamatsu | Men's high jump | — | $9,250 |
| 873 | Zach Bradford | Men's pole vault | — | $9,250 |
| 874 | Adam Kszczot | Men's 800 m | — | $9,000 |
| 875 | Jerome Blake | two disciplines | — | $9,000 |
| 876 | Jonathan Jones | Men's 400 m | — | $9,000 |
| 877 | Karyna Taranda | Women's high jump | — | $9,000 |
| 878 | Kori Carter | Women's 400 m hurdles | — | $9,000 |
| 879 | Mathew Sawe | Men's high jump | — | $9,000 |
| 880 | Milan Trajkovic | Men's 110 m hurdles | — | $9,000 |
| 881 | Samuel Pihlström | two disciplines | — | $9,000 |
| 882 | Valentin Lavillenie | Men's pole vault | — | $9,000 |
| 883 | Veronica Vancardo | Women's 800 m | — | $9,000 |
| 884 | Viivi Lehikoinen | Women's 400 m hurdles | — | $9,000 |
A slice of the same list the Diamond League hub ranks in full. Lythe Pillay is 864th of the 2,112 athletes the 104 meetings on this site paid, on $9,500.
Who else was in the money
The rest of the eight, at the meetings that paid Lythe Pillay most
Herculis 2024 paid $3,500 for 3rd in the 400 m, one of eight in the field. Also paid that afternoon: Collen Kebinatshipi, Bayapo Ndori, Christopher Morales Williams, Luca Sito, Téo Andant and Quincy Hall.
Meeting International Mohammed VI d'Athlétisme de Rabat 2024 paid $2,000 for 4th in the 400 m, one of eight in the field. Also paid that afternoon: Emmanuel Bamidele, Quincy Hall, Gilles Biron, Hamza Dair, Alexander Doom and Muzala Samukonga.
Xiamen Diamond League 2025 paid $1,500 for 7th in the 400 m, one of nine in the field. Also paid that afternoon: Håvard Bentdal Ingvaldsen, Bayapo Ndori, Christopher Bailey, Collen Kebinatshipi, Kirani James and Alexander Doom.
Frequently asked questions
How much Diamond League prize money has Lythe Pillay won?
$9,500, which ranks 864th of the 2,112 athletes the series has paid across the 104 meetings on this site. It came from five paid finishes between 2024 and 2025.
What is Lythe Pillay's biggest Diamond League payday?
$3,500, for finishing 3rd in the 400 m at the 2024 Herculis. The Diamond League pays by place rather than by performance, so that figure is what the card in force that season paid for 3rd and would have paid anybody who finished there.
How does the Diamond League decide what Lythe Pillay 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 place 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.
What did Lythe Pillay's World Relays teams win?
$20,000, across one paid final in Gaborone 2026. The relays pay a team rather than a runner, so the cheque goes to the federation and not to Lythe Pillay or to any one of the four. A title pays $40,000 and the ladder reaches all eight teams in a final, down to $2,000 for 8th.
Is this everything Lythe Pillay earns from athletics?
No. This is the Diamond League, which is one series of 104 meetings. The World Relays 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 him, priced off the card it published.
Where to next
The rest of the Diamond League money
Diamond League prize money ranks all 2,112 athletes across the $53,753,250 the 104 meetings on this site paid out. One place above Lythe Pillay is Lexy Halladay-Lowry on $9,500, and one below Tarsis Orogot on $9,500. Lythe Pillay is one of 34 South Africa athletes athletics has paid, and South Africa athletics prize money adds them up to $993,000 across all six competitions. For the event itself, see men's 400 m prize money. The series has paid out in 21 men's disciplines and Lythe Pillay 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 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 men's 4 × 400 metres relay page. World Relays prize money is the Guangzhou 2025 and Gaborone 2026 championships, $1,087,000 put up across 12 finals that pay a team and never a runner, and the relay is on the men's 4 × 400 metres relay page.