Usain Bolt prize money
Usain Bolt has been paid $172,000 by the Diamond League, which ranks 141st of the 3,683 athletes the series has paid. It came from 18 paid finishes in the men's 100 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
| MEETING | DISCIPLINE | PLACE | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|
| Herculis 2017 | 100 m | 1st | $10,000 |
| Bislett Games 2013 | 200 m | 1st | $10,000 |
| Meeting Areva 2013 | 200 m | 1st | $10,000 |
| Weltklasse 2013 | 100 m | 1st | $10,000 |
| Golden Gala Pietro Mennea 2013 | 100 m | 2nd | $6,000 |
| Golden Gala 2012 | 100 m | 1st | $10,000 |
| Bislett Games 2012 | 100 m | 1st | $10,000 |
| Athletissima 2012 | 200 m | 1st | $10,000 |
| Weltklasse Zürich 2012 | 200 m | 1st | $10,000 |
| Memorial van Damme 2012 | 100 m | 1st | $10,000 |
| Golden Gala 2011 | 100 m | 1st | $10,000 |
| Bislett Games 2011 | 200 m | 1st | $10,000 |
| Meeting Areva 2011 | 200 m | 1st | $10,000 |
| Herculis 2011 | 100 m | 1st | $10,000 |
| DN Galan 2011 | 200 m | 1st | $10,000 |
| Shanghai Diamond League 2010 | 200 m | 1st | $10,000 |
| Meeting Areva 2010 | 100 m | 1st | $10,000 |
| BAUHAUS-galan 2010 | 100 m | 2nd | $6,000 |
| All 18 | two disciplines | - | $172,000 |
The 18 paid figures add up because none of them contains another: a place is paid once, at that meeting, so $172,000 is 18 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 Usain Bolt
| DISCIPLINE | STARTS | WINS | YEARS | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men's 100 m | 10 | 8 | 2010 to 2017 | $92,000 |
| Men's 200 m | 8 | 8 | 2010 to 2013 | $80,000 |
The men's 100 m has paid Usain Bolt $92,000 of the $172,000, which is 53% of everything the series has given him.
Season by season
2010 to 2017, in the order it was won
| SEASON | STARTS | WINS | BIGGEST | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 3 | 2 | Shanghai Diamond League | $26,000 |
| 2011 | 5 | 5 | Golden Gala | $50,000 |
| 2012 | 5 | 5 | Golden Gala | $50,000 |
| 2013 | 4 | 3 | Bislett Games | $36,000 |
| 2014 | - | - | - | - |
| 2015 | - | - | - | - |
| 2016 | - | - | - | - |
| 2017 | 1 | 1 | Herculis | $10,000 |
season running total
2011 is the biggest of them, $50,000 from five starts. No Diamond League meeting paid Usain Bolt in 2014, 2015 and 2016, so those columns stand at nothing. The dimmer column behind each season is the running total, which reaches $172,000.
Around Usain Bolt on the money list
Ranks 121 to 161
| # | ATHLETE | DISCIPLINE | WINS | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 121 | Carmelita Jeter | two disciplines | 13 | $189,000 |
| 122 | Milcah Chemos | Women's 3000 m steeplechase | 16 | $189,000 |
| 123 | Shara Proctor | Women's long jump | 4 | $187,000 |
| 124 | Michelle Carter | Women's shot put | 3 | $186,500 |
| 125 | Blanka Vlašić | Women's high jump | 14 | $185,500 |
| 126 | Novlene Williams-Mills | Women's 400 m | 7 | $185,000 |
| 127 | Luvo Manyonga | Men's long jump | 8 | $184,500 |
| 128 | Leyanis Pérez | Women's triple jump | 9 | $183,250 |
| 129 | Olha Saladukha | Women's triple jump | 6 | $183,000 |
| 130 | Vítězslav Veselý | Men's javelin throw | 8 | $183,000 |
| 131 | Ferguson Rotich | two disciplines | 5 | $181,750 |
| 132 | Bershawn Jackson | two disciplines | 9 | $181,500 |
| 133 | Emmanuel Korir | two disciplines | 6 | $181,500 |
| 134 | Janieve Russell | Women's 400 m hurdles | 3 | $180,500 |
| 135 | Beatrice Chebet | three disciplines | 11 | $180,250 |
| 136 | Christina Obergföll | Women's javelin throw | 12 | $179,000 |
| 137 | Fedrick Dacres | Men's discus throw | 6 | $178,750 |
| 138 | Tianna Bartoletta | two disciplines | 8 | $177,750 |
| 139 | Larissa Iapichino | Women's long jump | 6 | $177,500 |
| 140 | Sally Pearson | Women's 100 m hurdles | 7 | $172,500 |
| 141 | Usain Bolt | two disciplines | 16 | $172,000 |
| 142 | Andriy Protsenko | Men's high jump | 3 | $171,250 |
| 143 | Emmanouil Karalis | Men's pole vault | 3 | $170,875 |
| 144 | Keely Hodgkinson | two disciplines | 9 | $170,500 |
| 145 | Marcin Lewandowski | four disciplines | 2 | $170,500 |
| 146 | Sarah Mitton | Women's shot put | 3 | $170,250 |
| 147 | Yuliya Levchenko | Women's high jump | 1 | $169,125 |
| 148 | Aaron Brown | two disciplines | 2 | $167,000 |
| 149 | Abeba Aregawi | four disciplines | 12 | $166,000 |
| 150 | David Rudisha | Men's 800 m | 14 | $166,000 |
| 151 | Neeraj Chopra | Men's javelin throw | 5 | $165,500 |
| 152 | Will Claye | two disciplines | 4 | $164,750 |
| 153 | Hansle Parchment | Men's 110 m hurdles | 5 | $164,000 |
| 154 | Selemon Barega | four disciplines | 5 | $163,750 |
| 155 | Eunice Sum | two disciplines | 11 | $162,500 |
| 156 | Andrius Gudžius | Men's discus throw | 2 | $162,000 |
| 157 | Marco Arop | two disciplines | 5 | $162,000 |
| 158 | Anderson Peters | Men's javelin throw | 7 | $161,000 |
| 159 | Konstantinos Filippidis | Men's pole vault | 6 | $161,000 |
| 160 | Julian Weber | Men's javelin throw | 4 | $160,750 |
| 161 | Norah Jeruto | two disciplines | 6 | $160,750 |
A slice of the same list the Diamond League hub ranks in full. Usain Bolt is 141st of the 3,683 athletes the 224 meetings on this site paid, on $172,000.
Who else was in the money
The rest of the eight, at the meetings that paid Usain Bolt most
Herculis 2017 paid $10,000 for 1st in the 100 m, one of eight in the field. Also paid that afternoon: Isiah Young, Akani Simbine, CJ Ujah, Su Bingtian, Mike Rodgers and Christopher Belcher.
Bislett Games 2013 paid $10,000 for 1st in the 200 m, one of seven in the field. Also paid that afternoon: Jaysuma Saidy Ndure, James Ellington, Jonathan Borlée, David Bolarinwa, Daniel Talbot and Nil de Oliveira.
Meeting Areva 2013 paid $10,000 for 1st in the 200 m, one of eight in the field. Also paid that afternoon: Warren Weir, Christophe Lemaitre, Jason Young, Nickel Ashmeade, Jimmy Vicaut and Maurice Mitchell.
Frequently asked questions
How much Diamond League prize money has Usain Bolt won?
$172,000, which ranks 141st of the 3,683 athletes the series has paid across the 224 meetings on this site. It came from 18 paid finishes between 2010 and 2017.
What is Usain Bolt's biggest Diamond League payday?
$10,000, for finishing 1st in the 100 m at the 2017 Herculis. 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 Usain Bolt 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 100 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 Usain Bolt won?
Sixteen of 18, worth $160,000 between them. He has not been paid at a Diamond League final.
Is this everything Usain Bolt 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 Usain Bolt is Sally Pearson on $172,500, and one below Andriy Protsenko on $171,250. Usain Bolt is one of 158 Jamaica athletes athletics has paid, and Jamaica athletics prize money adds them up to $8,413,000 across all six competitions. For the event itself, see men's 100 m prize money and men's 200 m prize money. The series has paid out in 21 men's disciplines and Usain Bolt has been paid in two of them. The biggest of the rest are men's pole vault, men's 800 m and men's 110 m hurdles. Every meeting he has raced is linked in the table at the top of this page, and Herculis has its own page across every edition of it.