Paulien Couckuyt prize money
Paulien Couckuyt has been paid $15,750 by the Diamond League, which ranks 694th of the 2,112 athletes the series has paid. It came from six paid finishes in the women's 400 m hurdles, 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 she finished, and what the card paid for it
| MEETING | DISCIPLINE | PLACE | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|
| AG Memorial Van Damme 2026 | 400 m hurdles | 3rd | $7,000 |
| Athletissima 2026 | 400 m hurdles | 3rd | $4,000 |
| AG Memorial Van Damme 2025 | 400 m hurdles | 8th | $1,000 |
| AG Memorial Van Damme 2024 | 400 m hurdles | 6th | $2,000 |
| Athletissima 2024 | 400 m hurdles | 6th | $1,000 |
| Meeting de Paris 2021 | 400 m hurdles | 7th | $750 |
| All six | Women's 400 m hurdles | — | $15,750 |
The six paid figures add up because none of them contains another: a place is paid once, at that meeting, so $15,750 is six separate amounts rather than a running total. It is 0.03% of the $53,753,250 the 104 meetings on this site paid out between them.
The Ultimate Championship
What Paulien Couckuyt did in Budapest, 2026
| EVENT | PLACE | MARK | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|
| Women's 400 metres hurdles | 6th | 53.88 | — |
Paulien Couckuyt 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 she finished. The championship page holds all 28 events and what each one paid.
Season by season
2021 to 2026, in the order it was won
| SEASON | STARTS | WINS | BIGGEST | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1 | — | Meeting de Paris | $750 |
| 2022 | — | — | — | — |
| 2023 | — | — | — | — |
| 2024 | 2 | — | AG Memorial Van Damme | $3,000 |
| 2025 | 1 | — | AG Memorial Van Damme | $1,000 |
| 2026 | 2 | — | AG Memorial Van Damme | $11,000 |
season running total
2026 is the biggest of them, $11,000 from two starts. No Diamond League meeting paid Paulien Couckuyt in 2022 and 2023, so those columns stand at nothing. The dimmer column behind each season is the running total, which reaches $15,750.
Around Paulien Couckuyt on the money list
Ranks 674 to 714
| # | ATHLETE | DISCIPLINE | WINS | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 674 | Luxolo Adams | Men's 200 m | 1 | $16,500 |
| 675 | Zane Weir | Men's shot put | — | $16,500 |
| 676 | Safina Sadullayeva | Women's high jump | 1 | $16,375 |
| 677 | Brooke Buschkuehl | Women's long jump | — | $16,250 |
| 678 | Justyna Święty-Ersetic | Women's 400 m | — | $16,250 |
| 679 | Liemarvin Bonevacia | Men's 400 m | — | $16,250 |
| 680 | Nadezhda Dubovitskaya | Women's high jump | — | $16,250 |
| 681 | Amálie Švábíková | Women's pole vault | — | $16,000 |
| 682 | Baptiste Thiery | Men's pole vault | — | $16,000 |
| 683 | Cindy Roleder | Women's 100 m hurdles | — | $16,000 |
| 684 | Gerald Drummond | two disciplines | 1 | $16,000 |
| 685 | Lea Meyer | Women's 3000 m steeplechase | — | $16,000 |
| 686 | Natoya Goule-Toppin | two disciplines | — | $16,000 |
| 687 | Saida Tsehaye | Women's 800 m | — | $16,000 |
| 688 | Saron Berhe | three disciplines | — | $16,000 |
| 689 | Wang Jianan | Men's long jump | — | $16,000 |
| 690 | Jan Štefela | Men's high jump | — | $15,958 |
| 691 | Eliza McCartney | Women's pole vault | — | $15,875 |
| 692 | Brian Komen | Men's 1500 m | 1 | $15,750 |
| 693 | Lynna Irby | two disciplines | — | $15,750 |
| 694 | Paulien Couckuyt | Women's 400 m hurdles | — | $15,750 |
| 695 | Thiago Braz | Men's pole vault | — | $15,750 |
| 696 | Antonio Alkana | Men's 110 m hurdles | — | $15,500 |
| 697 | Baboloki Thebe | Men's 400 m | 1 | $15,500 |
| 698 | Courtney Wayment | Women's 3000 m steeplechase | — | $15,500 |
| 699 | Jorge A. Hodelín | Men's long jump | — | $15,500 |
| 700 | Lynsey Sharp | Women's 800 m | — | $15,500 |
| 701 | Abdul Hakim Sani Brown | Men's 100 m | — | $15,250 |
| 702 | Beth Dobbin | Women's 200 m | — | $15,250 |
| 703 | Charles Simotwo | two disciplines | — | $15,250 |
| 704 | Jacko Gill | Men's shot put | — | $15,250 |
| 705 | Elena Vallortigara | Women's high jump | — | $15,000 |
| 706 | Hailemariyam Amare | Men's 3000 m steeplechase | — | $15,000 |
| 707 | Khaleb McRae | Men's 400 m | — | $15,000 |
| 708 | Nelson Évora | Men's triple jump | — | $15,000 |
| 709 | Obi Igbokwe | Men's 400 m | — | $15,000 |
| 710 | Torrie Lewis | two disciplines | 1 | $15,000 |
| 711 | Jake Heyward | two disciplines | — | $14,750 |
| 712 | Wang Yu | Men's high jump | 1 | $14,750 |
| 713 | Alicia Monson | two disciplines | — | $14,500 |
| 714 | Caleb Dean | two disciplines | — | $14,500 |
A slice of the same list the Diamond League hub ranks in full. Paulien Couckuyt is 694th of the 2,112 athletes the 104 meetings on this site paid, on $15,750.
Who else was in the money
The rest of the eight, at the meetings that paid Paulien Couckuyt most
AG Memorial Van Damme 2026 paid $7,000 for 3rd in the 400 m hurdles, one of eight in the field. Also paid that afternoon: Gianna Woodruff, Rushell Clayton, Fatoumata Binta Diallo, Dalilah Muhammad, Amalie Iuel and Anna Cockrell.
Athletissima 2026 paid $4,000 for 3rd in the 400 m hurdles, one of eight in the field. Also paid that afternoon: Rushell Clayton, Gianna Woodruff, Jasmine Jones, Fatoumata Binta Diallo, Kemi Adekoya and Emma Zapletalová.
AG Memorial Van Damme 2024 paid $2,000 for 6th in the 400 m hurdles, one of eight in the field. Also paid that afternoon: Janieve Russell, Andrenette Knight, Femke Bol, Anna Cockrell, Shiann Salmon and Shamier Little.
Frequently asked questions
How much Diamond League prize money has Paulien Couckuyt won?
$15,750, which ranks 694th of the 2,112 athletes the series has paid across the 104 meetings on this site. It came from six paid finishes between 2021 and 2026.
What is Paulien Couckuyt's biggest Diamond League payday?
$7,000, for finishing 3rd in the 400 m hurdles at the 2026 AG Memorial Van Damme. 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 Paulien Couckuyt 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 place is worth the same in the women's 400 m hurdles 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.
Is this everything Paulien Couckuyt earns from athletics?
No. This is the Diamond League, which is one series of 104 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 her, 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 Paulien Couckuyt is Lynna Irby on $15,750, and one below Thiago Braz on $15,750. Paulien Couckuyt is one of 43 Belgium athletes athletics has paid, and Belgium athletics prize money adds them up to $539,875 across all six competitions. For the event itself, see women's 400 m hurdles prize money. The series has paid out in 20 women's disciplines and Paulien Couckuyt 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 800 m. Every meeting she has raced is linked in the table at the top of this page, and AG Memorial Van Damme 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 women's 400 metres hurdles page.