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ATHLETICS · 121 COUNTRIES · SIX COMPETITIONS

Athletics prize money by country

the United States have taken $16,292,792 out of athletics, 21.7% of every dollar that names a country, from 352 athletes. Jamaica is second on $4,659,750 and Kenya third on $4,636,250. The ten biggest hold 57% of it between them.

$74,963,667 has been paid to 121 countries across the Diamond League, the World Championships, the World Indoor Championships, the Ultimate Championship, the World Relays and the World Cross Country Championships. $72,046,667 of that was paid to 2,084 athletes by name and is theirs.

PAID TO COUNTRIES $74,963,667
BIGGEST EARNER $16,292,792
COUNTRIES PAID 121
ATHLETES PAID 2,084
TO FEDERATIONS $2,917,000

Every country athletics has paid

All 121 of them, biggest first

$74,963,667 in all
Every country athletics prize money has reached, ranked by total, with how many of its athletes were paid, how many titles it has won, and how the money splits between the athletes and the federation.
# COUNTRY ATHLETES WINS TO ATHLETES TO FEDERATION TOTAL
1 United States 352 377 $15,398,792$15.4m $894,000 $16,292,792$16.3m
2 Jamaica 93 119 $4,419,750$4.4m $240,000 $4,659,750$4.7m
3 Kenya 100 142 $4,524,250$4.5m $112,000 $4,636,250$4.6m
4 Great Britain 126 61 $3,287,000$3.3m $124,000 $3,411,000$3.4m
5 Ethiopia 95 80 $3,160,000$3.2m $82,000 $3,242,000$3.2m
6 Australia 57 46 $2,446,500$2.4m $84,000 $2,530,500$2.5m
7 Italy 69 39 $2,086,250$2.1m $44,000 $2,130,250$2.1m
8 Netherlands 40 53 $1,893,667$1.9m $139,000 $2,032,667$2.0m
9 Sweden 47 55 $1,899,458$1.9m — $1,899,458$1.9m
10 Germany 81 33 $1,796,417$1.8m $62,000 $1,858,417$1.9m
11 Norway 41 45 $1,592,250$1.6m $56,000 $1,648,250$1.6m
12 Ukraine 20 35 $1,488,667$1.5m — $1,488,667$1.5m
13 Canada 34 25 $1,303,500 $146,000 $1,449,500$1.4m
14 Switzerland 45 22 $1,351,375$1.4m — $1,351,375$1.4m
15 France 104 9 $1,239,042 $51,000 $1,290,042
16 Cuba 18 32 $1,246,250 — $1,246,250
17 Poland 49 14 $1,083,542 $72,000 $1,155,542
18 Botswana 15 29 $974,250 $134,000 $1,108,250
19 South Africa 34 31 $829,000 $164,000 $993,000
20 Greece 9 23 $987,375 — $987,375
21 China 47 18 $873,167 $26,000 $899,167
22 Brazil 15 25 $877,000 — $877,000
23 Spain 41 9 $700,250 $164,000 $864,250
24 New Zealand 14 19 $817,625 — $817,625
25 Dominican Republic 6 29 $760,500 — $760,500
26 Portugal 17 19 $741,750 $17,000 $758,750
27 Japan 29 13 $691,417 $24,000 $715,417
28 Nigeria 10 10 $604,750 $4,000 $608,750
29 Bahrain 11 20 $593,250 — $593,250
30 Belgium 43 6 $394,875 $145,000 $539,875
31 Slovenia 9 13 $522,625 — $522,625
32 Uganda 16 8 $462,750 $52,000 $514,750
33 Czechia 17 7 $484,208 $3,000 $487,208
34 Morocco 31 20 $475,250 $4,000 $479,250
35 Algeria 5 10 $473,500 — $473,500
36 Bahamas 11 16 $457,750 — $457,750
37 Serbia 7 11 $453,417 — $453,417
38 Grenada 2 13 $437,250 — $437,250
39 Saint Lucia 1 13 $423,000 — $423,000
40 Authorised Neutral Athletes 12 17 $403,250 — $403,250
41 Ivory Coast 8 7 $359,500 — $359,500
42 Qatar 24 12 $328,583 $12,000 $340,583
43 Trinidad and Tobago 6 1 $332,750 — $332,750
44 Ireland 16 4 $315,000 $2,000 $317,000
45 Sri Lanka 3 6 $280,250 $12,000 $292,250
46 Lithuania 8 8 $291,750 — $291,750
47 Croatia 8 7 $285,500 — $285,500
48 Venezuela 2 12 $277,750 — $277,750
49 Senegal 1 3 $224,000 — $224,000
50 Puerto Rico 5 12 $211,000 — $211,000
51 India 11 5 $209,500 — $209,500
52 Slovakia 6 5 $205,000 $4,000 $209,000
53 Turkey 11 4 $207,000 — $207,000
54 Colombia 8 6 $206,750 — $206,750
55 Kazakhstan 6 8 $206,500 — $206,500
56 South Korea 2 6 $197,750 — $197,750
57 Bulgaria 5 1 $197,583 — $197,583
58 Hungary 9 — $163,000 $14,000 $177,000
59 Burkina Faso 2 4 $174,250 — $174,250
60 Estonia 4 1 $169,750 — $169,750
61 Mexico 6 — $163,583 — $163,583
62 Finland 19 2 $159,500 — $159,500
63 Belarus 13 2 $137,000 — $137,000
64 Dominica 1 1 $130,500 — $130,500
65 Latvia 6 — $113,750 — $113,750
66 British Virgin Islands 4 1 $111,250 — $111,250
67 Ecuador 2 1 $110,000 — $110,000
68 Panama 1 1 $97,000 — $97,000
69 Tunisia 4 1 $93,250 — $93,250
70 Cameroon 1 2 $93,000 — $93,000
71 Barbados 4 — $93,000 — $93,000
72 Liberia 6 — $93,000 — $93,000
73 Luxembourg 3 2 $89,250 — $89,250
74 Burundi 3 4 $83,500 — $83,500
75 Austria 4 — $79,250 — $79,250
76 Philippines 1 1 $78,125 — $78,125
77 Tanzania 1 1 $70,000 $4,000 $74,000
78 Zambia 1 1 $60,000 — $60,000
79 Zimbabwe 3 — $40,500 $6,000 $46,500
80 Namibia 2 2 $44,750 — $44,750
81 Chinese Taipei 2 1 $43,500 — $43,500
82 Djibouti 2 — $36,250 — $36,250
83 Syria 1 1 $36,000 — $36,000
84 Moldova 1 — $35,750 — $35,750
85 Uruguay 3 — $34,000 — $34,000
86 Israel 4 — $30,500 — $30,500
87 Samoa 1 — $30,500 — $30,500
88 Uzbekistan 2 2 $30,375 — $30,375
89 Chile 2 — $29,750 — $29,750
90 Denmark 9 1 $28,750 — $28,750
91 Gambia 3 1 $26,000 — $26,000
92 Romania 10 — $25,500 — $25,500
93 Bosnia and Herzegovina 2 — $22,250 — $22,250
94 Azerbaijan 1 — $20,500 — $20,500
95 Ghana 1 — $4,500 $16,000 $20,500
96 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1 — $17,750 — $17,750
97 Costa Rica 1 1 $16,000 — $16,000
98 Guatemala 1 — $13,750 — $13,750
99 Peru 2 — $13,500 — $13,500
100 Cyprus 3 — $13,000 — $13,000
101 Niger 1 — $12,750 — $12,750
102 Iran 2 — $12,500 — $12,500
103 Montenegro 1 — $11,750 — $11,750
104 Eritrea 2 — $6,500 $4,000 $10,500
105 Egypt 3 — $10,250 — $10,250
106 Benin 1 — $9,750 — $9,750
107 Haiti 1 — $8,000 — $8,000
108 Guyana 2 — $6,750 — $6,750
109 Albania 1 — $5,250 — $5,250
110 South Sudan 2 — $3,000 — $3,000
111 Iceland 1 — $2,000 — $2,000
112 Pakistan 1 — $2,000 — $2,000
113 Antigua and Barbuda 1 — $1,750 — $1,750
114 Kuwait 2 — $1,500 — $1,500
115 Thailand 2 — $1,500 — $1,500
116 Bermuda 1 — $1,000 — $1,000
117 Saint Kitts and Nevis 1 — $1,000 — $1,000
118 Saudi Arabia 1 — $1,000 — $1,000
119 Somalia 1 — $1,000 — $1,000
120 Congo 1 — $500 — $500
121 Hong Kong 1 — $500 — $500

Ranked on what the sport sent to the country, which is the athletes' own money and the federation's added together.

The fifteen biggest

Total prize money out of all six competitions

United States $16m Jamaica $4.7m Kenya $4.6m Great Britain $3.4m Ethiopia $3.2m Australia $2.5m Italy $2.1m Netherlands $2.0m Sweden $1.9m Germany $1.9m Norway $1.6m Ukraine $1.5m Canada $1.4m Switzerland $1.4m France $1.3m

The United States account for 21.7% of the money and 377 of the 1,707 titles. The gap to second is $11,633,042, which is more than every country outside the first two has ever won.

Where the money comes from

The six competitions, and how many countries each has paid

$75,742,250 paid in all
The six athletics competitions this section holds prize money for, with what each has paid, how much of it went to athletes and how much to federations, and how many countries each has reached.
COMPETITION COUNTRIES WINS TO ATHLETES TO FEDERATION PAID
Diamond League 119 1555 $52,974,667$53.0m — $53,753,250$53.8m
World Championships 74 49 $7,658,000$7.7m $922,000 $8,580,000$8.6m
Indoor Championships 57 53 $4,204,000$4.2m $428,000 $4,632,000$4.6m
Ultimate Championship 35 28 $6,930,000$6.9m $160,000 $7,090,000$7.1m
World Relays 23 12 — $1,067,000 $1,067,000
Cross Country 13 10 $280,000 $340,000 $620,000
All six 121 1,707 $72,046,667$72.0m $2,917,000$2.9m $75,742,250$75.7m

The last column is what each competition paid out. The columns beside it are what reached a country, which is a smaller number in one place only: $778,583 of Diamond League money belongs to athletes whose result tables never printed a nationality, so it is left out of the table rather than bucketed into a row nobody could read.

One athlete or a hundred

The same total means two different things

The United States have 352 paid athletes sharing $15,398,792, which is $43,747 each. Saint Lucia has one, Julien Alfred, and that single athlete's $423,000 is more than each of the 82 countries below Saint Lucia has won in total. 30 countries here have exactly one paid athlete: Senegal is Saly Sarr on $224,000 and Dominica is Thea LaFond on $130,500.

The money that names no country

$778,583, and why it is not in the table

Every figure above is grouped on the country printed beside an athlete in a result table. A Diamond League meeting occasionally prints none, and across nine seasons that comes to $778,583 held by athletes with no flag against their name anywhere in the archive.

The competitions behind these figures

Frequently asked questions

Which country earns the most prize money in athletics?

The United States, on $16,292,792 across the six bodies of prize money this section holds. That is 21.7% of every dollar that names a country, and it comes from 352 athletes. Jamaica is second on $4,659,750 and Kenya third on $4,636,250.

How much athletics prize money has been paid in total?

$75,742,250 across six competitions: the Diamond League, the World Championships, the World Indoor Championships, the Ultimate Championship, the World Relays and the World Cross Country Championships. $74,963,667 of it names a country and is on this page. The other $778,583 belongs to 146 Diamond League athletes whose result tables never printed one.

Does prize money go to the athlete or to the country?

Both, and the two are kept apart here. $72,046,667 was paid to athletes by name and is theirs. The other $2,917,000 went to a national federation: every relay purse is paid to the team whole, every rung of the World Relays ladder is a country's, and a cross country team standing pays the federation behind the first four runners. 33 countries hold federation money, led by the United States on $894,000.

How many countries have won athletics prize money?

121, sharing 2,084 paid athletes and $74,963,667 between them. Every one of the six competitions pays a fixed number of finishing places, so a country can put an athlete in a final, finish outside the ladder and appear nowhere on this page. 30 of the 121 have exactly one paid athlete, and five have been paid by all six.

Which country has won the most athletics titles?

The United States, with 377 wins across the six competitions, worth $16,292,792 in all. Kenya is next on 142 and Jamaica on 119. A win counts once whether it was an individual title or a relay, and a relay title pays the federation rather than the four who ran it.

Where to next

The rest of the athletics money

Diamond League prize money is the biggest of the six on $53,753,250, and the only one that pays every dollar of it to an athlete by name. The athletics section holds each of the six on its own, meeting by meeting and event by event. Every country below has a page here too, with the athletes it paid, what each competition sent it and whatever its federation collected on top.

Every country