Rai Benjamin prize money
Rai Benjamin has been paid $187,250 by the Diamond League, which ranks 49th of the 2,112 athletes the series has paid. It came from 18 paid finishes in the men's 400 m hurdles, men's 400 m and men's 300 m hurdles, eight 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 18 paid figures add up because none of them contains another: a place is paid once, at that meeting, so $187,250 is 18 separate amounts rather than a running total. It is 0.3% of the $53,753,250 the 104 meetings on this site paid out between them.
The World Championships
What Rai Benjamin did in Tokyo, 2025
| EVENT | PLACE | MARK | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's 400 metres hurdles | 1st | 46.52 | $70,000 |
The 2025 World Championships paid Rai Benjamin $70,000 for one finish in Tokyo, against $187,250 from 18 Diamond League starts between 2019 and 2026. A world title paid $70,000, which is more than the Diamond League has paid him in any single season. He ran on the United States team that finished 2nd in the men's 4 × 400 metres relay, $40,000 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 Ultimate Championship
What Rai Benjamin did in Budapest, 2026
| EVENT | PLACE | MARK | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's 400 metres | 2nd | 44.15 | $75,000 |
| Men's 400 metres hurdles | 2nd | 46.40 | $75,000 |
The Ultimate Championship paid Rai Benjamin $150,000 for two finishes over three days, against $187,250 from 18 Diamond League starts between 2019 and 2026. Three days there paid him more than any whole Diamond League season has. The championship page holds all 28 events and what each one paid.
The Olympic Games
What Rai Benjamin won in Paris
| EVENT | MEDAL | EARNED |
|---|---|---|
| Men's 400 metres hurdles | Gold | $50,000 |
| Men's 4 × 400 metres relay | Gold | — |
Rai Benjamin was paid $50,000 for the men's 400 metres hurdles in Paris, the first Games at which an athletics title carried prize money at all. Every one of the 48 golds paid the same $50,000. The men's 4 × 400 metres relay gold was worth $50,000 and was paid to the federation as a single cheque, with nothing published about how it was split between the runners. It is not his and is not added to the $187,250 at the top of this page. The Olympic page holds all 48 golds, the $2,400,000 they paid and what the circuit pays the same champions.
Discipline by discipline
What each event has paid Rai Benjamin
| DISCIPLINE | STARTS | WINS | YEARS | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men's 400 m hurdles | 11 | 7 | 2019 to 2025 | $148,000 |
| Men's 400 m | 5 | 1 | 2019 to 2026 | $32,000 |
| Men's 300 m hurdles | 1 | — | 2025 | $6,000 |
| Men's 200 m | 1 | — | 2021 | $1,250 |
The men's 400 m hurdles has paid Rai Benjamin $148,000 of the $187,250, which is 79% of everything the series has given him.
Season by season
2019 to 2026, in the order it was won
| SEASON | STARTS | WINS | BIGGEST | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 4 | 1 | Weltklasse Zürich | $42,000 |
| 2020 | — | — | — | — |
| 2021 | 2 | 1 | Doha Diamond League | $11,250 |
| 2022 | 1 | — | Doha Diamond League | $6,000 |
| 2023 | 2 | 2 | Prefontaine Classic | $40,000 |
| 2024 | 1 | 1 | Herculis | $10,000 |
| 2025 | 4 | 2 | Bauhausgalan | $52,000 |
| 2026 | 4 | 1 | London Athletics Meet | $26,000 |
season running total
2025 is the biggest of them, $52,000 from four starts. No Diamond League meeting paid Rai Benjamin in 2020, so that column stands at nothing. The dimmer column behind each season is the running total, which reaches $187,250.
Around Rai Benjamin on the money list
Ranks 29 to 69
| # | ATHLETE | DISCIPLINE | WINS | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | Masai Russell | Women's 100 m hurdles | 8 | $219,500 |
| 30 | Akani Simbine | Men's 100 m | 11 | $213,750 |
| 31 | Letsile Tebogo | two disciplines | 10 | $213,250 |
| 32 | Yulimar Rojas | two disciplines | 12 | $212,000 |
| 33 | Andy Díaz | Men's triple jump | 10 | $211,500 |
| 34 | Sandi Morris | Women's pole vault | 9 | $210,500 |
| 35 | Ryan Crouser | Men's shot put | 10 | $210,000 |
| 36 | Malaika Mihambo | Women's long jump | 8 | $207,750 |
| 37 | Marie-Josée Ta Lou | two disciplines | 5 | $202,000 |
| 38 | Haruka Kitaguchi | Women's javelin throw | 11 | $199,500 |
| 39 | Fred Kerley | three disciplines | 8 | $198,250 |
| 40 | Faith Cherotich | Women's 3000 m steeplechase | 8 | $198,000 |
| 41 | Nina Kennedy | Women's pole vault | 11 | $197,500 |
| 42 | Sifan Hassan | five disciplines | 8 | $196,750 |
| 43 | Tom Walsh | Men's shot put | 6 | $195,000 |
| 44 | Winfred Yavi | two disciplines | 8 | $193,000 |
| 45 | Audrey Werro | two disciplines | 7 | $191,500 |
| 46 | Salwa Eid Naser | two disciplines | 9 | $190,500 |
| 47 | Christian Coleman | two disciplines | 7 | $190,000 |
| 48 | Beatrice Chepkoech | three disciplines | 9 | $188,500 |
| 49 | Rai Benjamin | four disciplines | 8 | $187,250 |
| 50 | Leyanis Pérez | Women's triple jump | 9 | $183,250 |
| 51 | Freweyni Hailu | five disciplines | 6 | $183,000 |
| 52 | Beatrice Chebet | three disciplines | 11 | $180,250 |
| 53 | Andre De Grasse | two disciplines | 6 | $178,000 |
| 54 | Yaime Pérez | Women's discus throw | 5 | $178,000 |
| 55 | Larissa Iapichino | Women's long jump | 6 | $177,500 |
| 56 | Emmanouil Karalis | Men's pole vault | 3 | $170,875 |
| 57 | Keely Hodgkinson | two disciplines | 9 | $170,500 |
| 58 | Sarah Mitton | Women's shot put | 3 | $170,250 |
| 59 | Danielle Williams | Women's 100 m hurdles | 7 | $169,250 |
| 60 | Kirani James | Men's 400 m | 6 | $166,250 |
| 61 | Mariya Lasitskene | Women's high jump | 9 | $164,000 |
| 62 | Marco Arop | two disciplines | 5 | $162,000 |
| 63 | Jakub Vadlejch | Men's javelin throw | 5 | $161,250 |
| 64 | Anderson Peters | Men's javelin throw | 7 | $161,000 |
| 65 | Jasmine Camacho-Quinn | Women's 100 m hurdles | 12 | $158,500 |
| 66 | Sandra Perković | Women's discus throw | 5 | $158,000 |
| 67 | Jessica Schilder | Women's shot put | 5 | $153,250 |
| 68 | Tajay Gayle | Men's long jump | 4 | $151,750 |
| 69 | Mary Moraa | three disciplines | 9 | $151,500 |
A slice of the same list the Diamond League hub ranks in full. Rai Benjamin is 49th of the 2,112 athletes the 104 meetings on this site paid, on $187,250.
Who else was in the money
The rest of the eight, at the meetings that paid Rai Benjamin most
Prefontaine Classic 2023 paid $30,000 for 1st in the 400 m hurdles, one of nine in the field. Also paid that afternoon: Karsten Warholm, Kyron McMaster, Alison dos Santos, Wilfried Happio, Ludvy Vaillant and Rasmus Mägi.
Bauhausgalan 2025 paid $20,000 for 1st in the 400 m hurdles, one of seven in the field. Also paid that afternoon: Alison dos Santos, Karsten Warholm, Emil Agyekum, Alastair Chalmers, Carl Bengtström and Karl Wållgren.
Meeting de Paris 2025 paid $20,000 for 1st in the 400 m hurdles, one of seven in the field. Also paid that afternoon: Abderrahman Samba, Trevor Bassitt, Matheus Lima, Alastair Chalmers, Fantin Crisci and Hugo Menin.
Frequently asked questions
How much Diamond League prize money has Rai Benjamin won?
$187,250, which ranks 49th of the 2,112 athletes the series has paid across the 104 meetings on this site. It came from 18 paid finishes between 2019 and 2026.
What is Rai Benjamin's biggest Diamond League payday?
$30,000, for finishing 1st in the 400 m hurdles at the 2023 Prefontaine Classic. 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 Rai Benjamin 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 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.
How many Diamond League meetings has Rai Benjamin won?
Eight of 18, worth $120,000 between them. Two of his appearances came at a final, which paid $50,000.
How much did Rai Benjamin win at the 2025 World Championships?
$70,000, from one paid final in Tokyo. The championships pay eight places in every event, $70,000 for a title down to $5,000 for 8th.
How much did Rai Benjamin win at the Ultimate Championship?
$150,000, from two paid finals at the 2026 championship in Budapest. World Athletics pays $150,000 for a win there, $75,000 for second and $40,000 for third, the same in all 26 individual events.
Is this everything Rai Benjamin earns from athletics?
No. This is the Diamond League, which is one series of 104 meetings. The World Championships, Ultimate Championship and Olympic 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 Rai Benjamin is Beatrice Chepkoech on $188,500, and one below Leyanis Pérez on $183,250. Rai Benjamin is one of 352 United States athletes athletics has paid, and United States athletics prize money adds them up to $16,292,792 across all six competitions. For the event itself, see men's 400 m hurdles prize money, men's 400 m prize money, men's 300 m hurdles prize money and men's 200 m prize money. The series has paid out in 21 men's disciplines and Rai Benjamin has been paid in four 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 London Athletics Meet 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 finals are on the men's 400 metres hurdles and men's 4 × 400 metres relay pages. Ultimate Championship prize money is the 2026 championship in Budapest, $10,000,000 over three days, and the full finals are on the men's 400 metres and men's 400 metres hurdles pages.