South Africa athletics prize money
South Africa has taken $2,356,250 out of athletics, 13th of the 130 countries the sport has paid. Caster Semenya is the biggest earner on $304,000, 12.9% of the national total.
$2,192,250 of that belongs to 54 athletes by name. The other $164,000 is the federation's, won by eight teams whose purse is paid to the country rather than split between the runners.
Every South Africa athlete athletics has paid
54 of them, biggest first
| # | ATHLETE | PAID | WINS | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caster Semenya | 29 | 20 | $304,000 |
| 2 | Akani Simbine | 51 | 11 | $273,500 |
| 3 | Luvo Manyonga | 14 | 8 | $184,500 |
| 4 | Sunette Viljoen | 38 | 4 | $160,000 |
| 5 | Ruswahl Samaai | 24 | 2 | $152,500 |
| 6 | Godfrey Khotso Mokoena | 31 | 3 | $113,000 |
| 7 | Wayde van Niekerk | 14 | 9 | $110,000 |
| 8 | Prudence Sekgodiso | 17 | 3 | $100,000 |
| 9 | L. J. van Zyl | 27 | 2 | $91,500 |
| 10 | Zakithi Nene | 19 | 2 | $84,750 |
| 11 | Cornel Fredericks | 15 | 1 | $60,000 |
| 12 | Sinesipho Dambile | 8 | 1 | $55,000 |
| 13 | Wenda Nel | 19 | - | $48,500 |
| 14 | Jo-Ané du Plessis | 8 | - | $47,000 |
| 15 | Gift Leotlela | 6 | 1 | $44,500 |
| 16 | Mbulaeni Mulaudzi | 8 | 1 | $41,000 |
| 17 | Zarck Visser | 14 | 1 | $40,000 |
| 18 | Anaso Jobodwana | 7 | - | $35,000 |
| 19 | André Olivier | 6 | - | $26,000 |
| 20 | Luxolo Adams | 6 | 1 | $25,000 |
| 21 | Carina Horn | 9 | - | $23,000 |
| 22 | Antonio Alkana | 9 | - | $22,000 |
| 23 | Robert Oosthuizen | 5 | - | $20,000 |
| 24 | Zenéy Geldenhuys | 7 | - | $11,750 |
| 25 | Marione Fourie | 3 | - | $11,000 |
| 26 | Pieter Conradie | 5 | - | $10,000 |
| 27 | Lythe Pillay | 5 | - | $9,500 |
| 28 | Oscar Pistorius | 5 | - | $9,000 |
| 29 | Ruben Ramolefi | 4 | - | $8,500 |
| 30 | Shaun Maswanganyi | 4 | - | $7,750 |
| 31 | Simon Magakwe | 3 | - | $5,500 |
| 32 | Victor Hogan | 3 | - | $5,500 |
| 33 | Clarence Munyai | 2 | - | $5,000 |
| 34 | Bayanda Walaza | 2 | - | $4,500 |
| 35 | Lehann Fourie | 3 | - | $4,500 |
| 36 | Stephen Mokoka | 1 | - | $4,000 |
| 37 | Tshepo Tshite | 3 | - | $4,000 |
| 38 | Johan Cronje | 3 | - | $3,000 |
| 39 | Abduraqhman Karriem | 1 | - | $2,500 |
| 40 | Benjamin Richardson | 1 | - | $2,500 |
| 41 | Mthi Mthimkulu | 1 | - | $2,500 |
| 42 | Rynhardt van Rensburg | 2 | - | $2,500 |
| 43 | Sokwakhana Zazini | 3 | - | $2,250 |
| 44 | Dominique Scott | 2 | - | $2,000 |
| 45 | Henricho Bruintjies | 1 | - | $2,000 |
| 46 | Peter van der Westhuizen | 2 | - | $2,000 |
| 47 | Adriaan Wildschutt | 2 | - | $1,500 |
| 48 | Rocco van Rooyen | 1 | - | $1,500 |
| 49 | Tumelo Thagane | 1 | - | $1,500 |
| 50 | Brian Raats | 2 | - | $1,250 |
| 51 | Emile Erasmus | 1 | - | $1,250 |
| 52 | Bradley Nkoana | 1 | - | $1,000 |
| 53 | Orazio Cremona | 1 | - | $1,000 |
| 54 | Cheswill Johnson | 1 | - | $750 |
Career totals across all six competitions, not a single season. PAID is how many finishing places were paid for, which is a different count from wins: a second place in a Diamond League final and a world title are both one payment. 54 of these athletes have a page of their own here.
The biggest earners
The top twelve of 54
Caster Semenya holds 12.9% of everything South Africa has won in athletics. The three biggest hold 32.3% of it between them, and $40,597 is what the national total works out at per paid athlete.
Where the money comes from
All six competitions, and what each has sent South Africa
| COMPETITION | ATHLETES | WINS | TO ATHLETES | TO FEDERATION | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diamond League | 54 | 69 | $2,093,250$2.1m | - | $2,093,250$2.1m |
| World Championships | 5 | - | $49,000 | $28,000 | $77,000 |
| Indoor Championships | 2 | 1 | $50,000 | - | $50,000 |
| Ultimate Championship | - | - | - | - | - |
| World Relays | - | 2 | - | $136,000 | $136,000 |
| Cross Country | - | - | - | - | - |
| All six | 54 | 72 | $2,192,250$2.2m | $164,000 | $2,356,250$2.4m |
The Diamond League is the biggest of the six for South Africa on $2,093,250, 88.8% of the national total. Four of the six have paid South Africa. South Africa has won nothing at the Ultimate Championship and the World Cross Country Championships.
The ATHLETES column counts the people each competition paid, so it does not add up to 54: six athletes have been paid by more than one of the six, and are counted in every row that paid them and once in the national total. Akani Simbine has been paid by three of them: the Diamond League, the World Championships and the World Indoor Championships.
The cheques that went to the federation
8 team payments, paid to South Africa rather than to anyone who ran
| RACE | PLACE | WHO RAN | PURSE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's 4 × 100 metres relay, 2025 | 1st | Bayanda Walaza, Sinesipho Dambile, Bradley Nkoana, Akani Simbine | $40,000 |
| Men's 4 × 400 metres relay, 2025 | 1st | Gardeo Isaacs, Udeme Okon, Leendert Koekemoer, Zakithi Nene | $40,000 |
| Men's 4 × 100 metres relay, 2026 | 2nd | Myuyo Moss, Cheswill Johnson, Bradley Nkoana, Akani Simbine | $20,000 |
| Men's 4 × 400 metres relay, 2026 | 2nd | Mthi Mthimkulu, Lythe Pillay, Leendert Koekemoer, Zakithi Nene | $20,000 |
| Men's 4 × 400 metres relay, 2025 | 3rd | Lythe Pillay, Udeme Okon, Wayde van Niekerk, Zakithi Nene | $20,000 |
| Women's 4 × 400 metres relay, 2025 | 3rd | Shirley Nekhubui, Miranda Coetzee, Precious Molepo, Zenéy Geldenhuys | $10,000 |
| Mixed 4 × 400 metres relay, 2025 | 6th | Gardeo Isaacs, Shirley Nekhubui, Leendert Koekemoer, Zenéy van der Walt | $8,000 |
| Mixed 4 × 400 metres relay, 2025 | 5th | Mthi Mthimkulu, Jada van Staden, Tumisang Shezi, Hannah van Niekerk | $6,000 |
None of this is in any athlete's total above, here or anywhere else on the site. A relay purse is paid to the team whole, a World Relays ladder place is a country's, and a cross country team standing pays the federation behind the first four runners home.
South Africa against the rest
Where $2,356,250 puts South Africa
That is 1.7% of the $135,290,875 athletics has paid to a country, and 13th out of 130. South Africa has Italy above on $2,487,342 and Ukraine below on $2,339,600.
The biggest of the 130 is the United States on $29,436,125, which is 21.8% of everything the sport has paid to a country. The full money list ranks every one of them, and the six competitions behind these figures each have a section of their own.
Countries either side of South Africa
- United States
- Kenya
- Jamaica
- Great Britain
- Ethiopia
- Germany
- Australia
- France
- Netherlands
- Poland
- Sweden
- Italy
- Ukraine
- Canada
- Cuba
- Norway
- China
- Czechia
- Botswana
- Greece
- Switzerland
- Spain
- New Zealand
- Brazil
- RUS
- Authorised Neutral Athletes
- Bahamas
- Croatia
- Portugal
- Bahrain
- Nigeria
- Morocco
- Dominican Republic
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Belgium
- Ivory Coast
- Japan
- Qatar
- Serbia
- Colombia
Frequently asked questions
How much prize money has South Africa won in athletics?
$2,356,250 across the six competitions this section holds: the Diamond League, the World Championships, the World Indoor Championships, the Ultimate Championship, the World Relays and the World Cross Country Championships. That is 13th of the 130 countries athletics has paid, and 1.7% of the $135,290,875 the sport has sent to a country.
Which South Africa athlete earns the most prize money?
Caster Semenya, on $304,000 from 29 paid finishes and 20 wins. That is 12.9% of everything South Africa has won. Akani Simbine is next on $273,500.
Does prize money won by South Africa go to the athlete or the federation?
$2,192,250 of that belongs to 54 athletes by name. The other $164,000 is the federation's, won by eight teams whose purse is paid to the country rather than split between the runners.
How many athletes from South Africa have won athletics prize money?
54, sharing $2,192,250 between them, which is $40,597 each. Sixteen of them have won a title, 72 in all. Six have been paid by more than one of the six competitions.
Where to next
The competitions that paid South Africa
Every figure on this page comes out of one of the six below, and each has its own section here, event by event and edition by edition, with the full ladder of what each finishing place was worth. The country money list puts South Africa against the other 129 the sport has paid.