Zakithi Nene prize money
Zakithi Nene has been paid $73,750 by the Diamond League, which ranks 199th of the 2,112 athletes the series has paid. It came from 18 paid finishes in the men's 400 m, two 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 $73,750 is 18 separate amounts rather than a running total. It is 0.1% of the $53,753,250 the 104 meetings on this site paid out between them.
The World Championships
What Zakithi Nene did in Tokyo, 2025
| EVENT | PLACE | MARK | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's 400 metres | 5th | 44.55 | $11,000 |
The 2025 World Championships paid Zakithi Nene $11,000 for one finish in Tokyo, against $73,750 from 18 Diamond League starts between 2021 and 2026. 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 Zakithi Nene ran on, 2025 and 2026
| EVENT | PLACE | MARK | TEAM PAID |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's 4 × 400 metres relay | 1st | 2:57.50 | $40,000 |
| Men's 4 × 400 metres relay | 2nd | 2:55.07 | $20,000 |
The World Relays have paid $60,000 for the two teams Zakithi Nene ran on across Guangzhou 2025 and Gaborone 2026, and all of it went to South Africa rather than to the four who ran. The $73,750 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. He was on the winning team once, which pays $40,000 against $20,000 for second. He ran alongside Mthi Mthimkulu and Lythe Pillay, 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
2021 to 2026, in the order it was won
| SEASON | STARTS | WINS | BIGGEST | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1 | — | Golden Gala Pietro Mennea | $2,000 |
| 2022 | 3 | — | Weltklasse Zürich | $9,500 |
| 2023 | 4 | 1 | Bauhausgalan | $14,750 |
| 2024 | — | — | — | — |
| 2025 | 3 | — | Meeting International Mohammed VI d'Athlétisme de Rabat | $16,000 |
| 2026 | 7 | 1 | Bauhausgalan | $31,500 |
season running total
2026 is the biggest of them, $31,500 from seven starts. No Diamond League meeting paid Zakithi Nene in 2024, so that column stands at nothing. The dimmer column behind each season is the running total, which reaches $73,750.
Around Zakithi Nene on the money list
Ranks 179 to 219
| # | ATHLETE | DISCIPLINE | WINS | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 179 | Orlando Ortega | Men's 110 m hurdles | 3 | $81,000 |
| 180 | CJ Allen | two disciplines | 1 | $80,750 |
| 181 | Daniel Roberts | Men's 110 m hurdles | 3 | $79,750 |
| 182 | Ferguson Rotich | two disciplines | 2 | $79,250 |
| 183 | Devynne Charlton | Women's 100 m hurdles | — | $78,750 |
| 184 | Ferdinand Omanyala | Men's 100 m | 2 | $78,250 |
| 185 | Marie Josée Ta Lou-Smith | two disciplines | 1 | $78,250 |
| 186 | Sada Williams | Women's 400 m | — | $78,250 |
| 187 | EJ Obiena | Men's pole vault | 1 | $78,125 |
| 188 | Ramil Guliyev | Men's 200 m | 3 | $78,000 |
| 189 | Molly Caudery | Women's pole vault | 3 | $77,500 |
| 190 | Lü Huihui | Women's javelin throw | 3 | $77,250 |
| 191 | Medina Eisa | two disciplines | 3 | $77,000 |
| 192 | Oleh Doroshchuk | Men's high jump | 2 | $76,250 |
| 193 | Nijel Amos | Men's 800 m | 5 | $76,000 |
| 194 | Sydney McLaughlin | two disciplines | 3 | $76,000 |
| 195 | Linden Hall | four disciplines | 1 | $75,250 |
| 196 | Ronald Levy | Men's 110 m hurdles | 3 | $75,250 |
| 197 | Ackeem Blake | Men's 100 m | 1 | $75,000 |
| 198 | Jemma Reekie | four disciplines | 1 | $73,750 |
| 199 | Zakithi Nene | Men's 400 m | 2 | $73,750 |
| 200 | Auriol Dongmo | Women's shot put | 3 | $73,500 |
| 201 | Tsige Duguma | two disciplines | 4 | $73,250 |
| 202 | Klaudia Kazimierska | two disciplines | 1 | $73,000 |
| 203 | Yasser Triki | Men's triple jump | 1 | $73,000 |
| 204 | Christin Hussong | Women's javelin throw | 3 | $72,750 |
| 205 | Samuel Firewu | Men's 3000 m steeplechase | 2 | $72,500 |
| 206 | Jake Wightman | four disciplines | 4 | $71,750 |
| 207 | Jordan Scott | Men's triple jump | 4 | $71,500 |
| 208 | Stewart McSweyn | four disciplines | 2 | $71,500 |
| 209 | Likina Amebaw | two disciplines | 1 | $71,250 |
| 210 | Stephenie Ann McPherson | Women's 400 m | 2 | $71,250 |
| 211 | Simon Koech | Men's 3000 m steeplechase | 3 | $71,000 |
| 212 | Thobias Montler | Men's long jump | 2 | $70,750 |
| 213 | Halimah Nakaayi | two disciplines | — | $70,500 |
| 214 | Benjamin Kigen | Men's 3000 m steeplechase | 2 | $70,250 |
| 215 | Andrius Gudžius | Men's discus throw | 1 | $70,000 |
| 216 | Caster Semenya | two disciplines | 7 | $70,000 |
| 217 | Magnus Kirt | Men's javelin throw | 1 | $70,000 |
| 218 | Courtney Lindsey | two disciplines | 1 | $69,750 |
| 219 | Fedrick Dacres | Men's discus throw | 2 | $69,750 |
A slice of the same list the Diamond League hub ranks in full. Zakithi Nene is 199th of the 2,112 athletes the 104 meetings on this site paid, on $73,750.
Who else was in the money
The rest of the eight, at the meetings that paid Zakithi Nene most
Bauhausgalan 2026 paid $10,000 for 1st in the 400 m, one of seven in the field. Also paid that afternoon: Jacory Patterson, Jereem Richards, Khaleb McRae, Charles Dobson, Carl Bengtström and Muzala Samukonga.
Bauhausgalan 2023 paid $10,000 for 1st in the 400 m, one of eight in the field. Also paid that afternoon: Emmanuel Bamidele, Matthew Hudson-Smith, João Coelho, Attila Molnár, Leungo Scotch and Bayapo Ndori.
Meeting de Paris 2026 paid $6,000 for 2nd in the 400 m, one of seven in the field. Also paid that afternoon: Christopher Bailey, Matthew Hudson-Smith, Muzala Samukonga, Jereem Richards, Muhammad Abdallah Kounta and Collen Kebinatshipi.
Frequently asked questions
How much Diamond League prize money has Zakithi Nene won?
$73,750, which ranks 199th of the 2,112 athletes the series has paid across the 104 meetings on this site. It came from 18 paid finishes between 2021 and 2026.
What is Zakithi Nene's biggest Diamond League payday?
$10,000, for finishing 1st in the 400 m at the 2026 Bauhausgalan. 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 Zakithi Nene 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 Zakithi Nene won?
Two of 18, worth $20,000 between them. Two of his appearances came at a final, which paid $6,000.
How much did Zakithi Nene win at the 2025 World Championships?
$11,000, 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.
What did Zakithi Nene's World Relays teams win?
$60,000, across two paid finals at Guangzhou 2025 and Gaborone 2026. The relays pay a team rather than a runner, so the cheque goes to the federation and not to Zakithi Nene 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 Zakithi Nene earns from athletics?
No. This is the Diamond League, which is one series of 104 meetings. The World Championships and 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 Zakithi Nene is Jemma Reekie on $73,750, and one below Auriol Dongmo on $73,500. Zakithi Nene 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 Zakithi Nene 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 Bauhausgalan 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 and men's 4 × 400 metres relay pages. 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.