Men's 400 m prize money
The Diamond League has paid $3,738,500 in the men's 400 m, to 160 athletes across 115 runnings of it, from 2010 to 2026. Kirani James has taken more of it than anyone, $310,250.
The series pays by finishing place and by nothing else, so a win here is worth what a win in any other discipline is worth: $10,000 at a 2026 series meeting, eight places paid, and nothing for ninth. Nine of the 115 runnings were at the series final, which pays on its own ladder: $30,000 for the win at the 2026 final. Five of the 115 runnings were Diamond+, which pays double.
Who the men's 400 m has paid the most
Every running of it on this site, added up
| # | ATHLETE | PAID | WINS | BEST DAY | EARNED |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kirani James | 36 | 17 | 1st | $310,250 |
| 2 | LaShawn Merritt | 24 | 16 | 1st | $206,000 |
| 3 | Collen Kebinatshipi | 16 | 6 | 1st | $145,500 |
| 4 | Isaac Makwala | 30 | 1 | 1st | $138,000 |
| 5 | Matthew Hudson-Smith | 28 | 5 | 1st | $136,750 |
| 6 | Vernon Norwood | 41 | 0 | 3rd | $136,250 |
| 7 | Fred Kerley | 8 | 4 | 1st | $110,500 |
| 8 | Jacory Patterson | 11 | 4 | 1st | $103,000 |
| 9 | Wayde van Niekerk | 12 | 9 | 1st | $102,000 |
| 10 | Steven Gardiner | 13 | 9 | 1st | $101,000 |
| 11 | Michael Norman | 6 | 6 | 1st | $100,000 |
| 12 | Luguelín Santos | 27 | 1 | 1st | $93,000 |
| 13 | Jeremy Wariner | 12 | 7 | 1st | $90,000 |
| 14 | Zakithi Nene | 18 | 2 | 1st | $73,750 |
| 15 | Michael Cherry | 14 | 2 | 1st | $72,750 |
| 16 | Kevin Borlée | 24 | 1 | 1st | $69,750 |
| 17 | Christopher Brown | 18 | 1 | 1st | $68,000 |
| 18 | Jermaine Gonzales | 11 | 2 | 1st | $64,000 |
| 19 | Muzala Samukonga | 12 | 1 | 1st | $60,000 |
| 20 | Bayapo Ndori | 18 | 1 | 2nd | $56,500 |
| 21 | Charlie Dobson | 9 | 2 | 1st | $55,750 |
| 22 | Jonathan Borlée | 16 | 1 | 1st | $55,000 |
| 23 | Tony McQuay | 16 | 0 | 2nd | $51,250 |
| 24 | Baboloki Thebe | 12 | 1 | 1st | $49,000 |
| 25 | Pavel Maslák | 19 | 0 | 4th | $48,500 |
| 26 | Quincy Hall | 10 | 2 | 2nd | $47,000 |
| 27 | Angelo Taylor | 10 | 2 | 1st | $46,500 |
| 28 | Abdalelah Haroun | 9 | 1 | 1st | $43,000 |
| 29 | Martyn Rooney | 17 | 0 | 3rd | $41,500 |
| 30 | Christopher Bailey | 9 | 1 | 1st | $41,000 |
| 31 | Gil Roberts | 6 | 0 | 2nd | $40,500 |
| 32 | Akeem Bloomfield | 4 | 3 | 1st | $40,000 |
| 33 | Youssef Ahmed Masrahi | 10 | 1 | 1st | $39,500 |
| 34 | Bryce Deadmon | 10 | 0 | 2nd | $38,750 |
| 35 | Jereem Richards | 9 | 0 | 2nd | $33,250 |
| 36 | Rai Benjamin | 5 | 1 | 1st | $32,000 |
| 37 | Rusheen McDonald | 11 | 1 | 1st | $32,000 |
| 38 | Nathan Strother | 5 | 0 | 2nd | $31,000 |
| 39 | David Verburg | 9 | 0 | 2nd | $29,500 |
| 40 | Liemarvin Bonevacia | 14 | 0 | 6th | $25,750 |
Kirani James has collected $310,250 of the $3,738,500 this discipline has paid out, 8.3% of it. Kirani James has won 17 of them, more than anyone else. 101 of the 160 athletes paid in this discipline were paid in it more than once. The table lists the 40 biggest of 160.
Every Diamond League men's 400 m
Who won it, what the win paid and what the field took
What the men's 400 m paid each season
season running total
The line is the running total. A season's figure is the rate multiplied by how many meetings put the discipline on, so the columns move with the programme rather than with who turned up: 2026 ran it nine times and 2021 five times. Nobody has ever shared the win in it, so every figure in the win column is one athlete's cheque.
Where the men's 400 m is run
The meetings that have put it on, and what each has paid for it
| MEETING | RUNNINGS | PAID FOR IT |
|---|---|---|
| Weltklasse Zürich | 11 | $554,000 |
| Prefontaine Classic | 10 | $332,000 |
| AG Memorial Van Damme | 7 | $329,500 |
| Herculis EBS | 8 | $238,500 |
| Bauhausgalan | 8 | $229,000 |
| Golden Gala Pietro Mennea | 8 | $223,500 |
| Diamond League Shanghai | 7 | $205,000 |
| Doha Diamond League | 7 | $200,000 |
| Meeting de Paris | 6 | $183,500 |
| Meeting International Mohammed VI d'Athlétisme de Rabat | 6 | $177,000 |
| Athletissima | 6 | $174,000 |
| Birmingham Diamond League | 6 | $174,000 |
| London Athletics Meet | 6 | $169,500 |
| Bislett Games | 6 | $165,000 |
| Müller Anniversary Games | 4 | $120,000 |
| Xiamen Diamond League | 3 | $95,000 |
| Adidas Grand Prix | 3 | $89,000 |
| Kamila Skolimowska Memorial | 3 | $80,000 |
| 18 meetings | 115 | $3,738,500$3.7m |
Every meeting pays the same ladder, so this column ranks how often each one put the discipline on rather than how generous it is. Weltklasse Zürich has run it eleven times and paid $554,000 for it. Each meeting links to everything it has paid across every edition of it.
What each place pays in the men's 400 m
The seven ladders this discipline has been paid under
| PLACE | SERIES | SERIES | SERIES | SERIES + | FINAL | FINAL | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | $10,000 | $10,000 | $10,000 | $20,000 | $50,000 | $30,000 | $30,000 |
| 2nd | $6,000 | $6,000 | $6,000 | $6,000 | $20,000 | $12,000 | $12,000 |
| 3rd | $4,000 | $3,500 | $4,000 | $4,000 | $10,000 | $7,000 | $7,000 |
| 4th | $3,000 | $2,000 | $3,000 | $3,000 | $6,000 | $4,000 | $4,000 |
| 5th | $2,500 | $1,250 | $2,500 | $2,500 | $5,000 | $2,500 | $2,500 |
| 6th | $2,000 | $1,000 | $2,000 | $2,000 | $4,000 | $2,000 | $2,000 |
| 7th | $1,500 | $750 | $1,500 | $1,500 | $3,000 | $1,500 | $1,500 |
| 8th | $1,000 | $500 | $1,000 | $1,000 | $2,000 | $1,000 | $1,000 |
| All eight | $30,000 | $25,000 | $30,000 | $40,000 | $100,000 | $60,000 | $60,000 |
One column per ladder, and none of them is specific to this discipline: the men's 400 m is paid on the same card as the 100 m and the shot put at the same meeting. There is no appearance money in any of it, nothing for a record, and nothing at all for ninth place. The Diamond+ columns are the five of 115 runnings where the series doubled the discipline's rate for the day.
Frequently asked questions
How much prize money does the Diamond League pay in the men's 400 m?
$3,738,500 across 115 runnings of it, to 160 athletes from 39 countries. That is 3.3% of everything the series has paid, and the 11th biggest of the 41 disciplines on this site.
What does a win in the men's 400 m pay?
$10,000, and double that at a meeting where it is a Diamond+ discipline. It is the same figure in every discipline on a programme, so a win here pays exactly what a win in the 100 m pays. Nine of the 115 runnings were at the series final, which pays on its own ladder: $30,000 for the win at the 2026 final.
Who has earned the most in the men's 400 m?
Kirani James, on $310,250 from 36 paid finishes, 17 of them wins. 101 of the 160 athletes the discipline has paid were paid in it more than once.
Who has won the most Diamond League men's 400 m titles?
Kirani James, on 17 wins. 34 different athletes have won a Diamond League men's 400 m across the 115 runnings on this site.
How often does the Diamond League run the men's 400 m?
115 times across sixteen seasons, from 2010 to 2026, on the programmes of 18 different meetings. Weltklasse Zürich has run it eleven times, more than anywhere else. The series rotates its programme, so no discipline is on every card.
How far down the field does the men's 400 m pay?
Eight places, and ninth pays nothing however good the mark was. 891 payments have gone to 160 athletes in this discipline, and thirteen other finishes in the same result tables were worth nothing at all.
Where to next
The rest of the Diamond League money
Diamond League prize money holds all sixteen seasons on this site, 224 meetings and $113,397,000. The 2026 season is at Diamond League 2026. The other half of the event is at Women's 400 m, which has paid $3,818,000.
Every other Diamond League discipline
- Women's 100 m
- Men's 100 m
- Women's 100 m hurdles
- Men's pole vault
- Women's 400 m
- Men's 800 m
- Men's 200 m
- Women's 800 m
- Men's 110 m hurdles
- Women's 200 m
- Women's 400 m hurdles
- Men's 400 m hurdles
- Women's pole vault
- Women's high jump
- Women's 1500 m
- Men's high jump
- Men's 3000 m steeplechase
- Women's long jump
- Women's 3000 m steeplechase
- Men's shot put
- Men's long jump
- Women's discus throw
- Men's javelin throw
- Men's discus throw
- Women's triple jump
- Men's triple jump
- Women's javelin throw
- Women's shot put
- Men's 1500 m
- Men's 5000 m
- Women's 5000 m
- Women's 3000 m
- Men's mile
- Men's 3000 m
- Women's mile
- Men's 1000 m
- Men's 300 m hurdles
- Women's 2 miles
- Women's 1000 m
- Men's 2 miles
Every Diamond League meeting
- Weltklasse Zürich
- AG Memorial Van Damme
- Prefontaine Classic
- Athletissima
- Meeting de Paris
- Golden Gala Pietro Mennea
- Doha Diamond League
- Bauhausgalan
- Bislett Games
- Herculis EBS
- Shanghai Diamond League
- Birmingham Diamond League
- Meeting International Mohammed VI d'Athlétisme de Rabat
- Anniversary Games
- London Athletics Meet
- Adidas Grand Prix
- Kamila Skolimowska Memorial
- Xiamen Diamond League
- Müller Grand Prix Gateshead
Every Diamond League season
- Diamond League 2026
- Diamond League 2025
- Diamond League 2024
- Diamond League 2023
- Diamond League 2022
- Diamond League 2021
- Diamond League 2019
- Diamond League 2018
- Diamond League 2017
- Diamond League 2016
- Diamond League 2015
- Diamond League 2014
- Diamond League 2013
- Diamond League 2012
- Diamond League 2011
- Diamond League 2010