Men's 400 metres indoor prize money
Christopher Morales Williams won the men's 400 metres at the 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships in 44.76 and took $40,000. Second was worth $20,000 and third $10,000, and the money ran six deep, so the final paid $88,000 in all.
Eight athletes contested the final in Toruń, from seven countries. Every event indoors carries the same $88,000, relays included, and the championships put up $2,376,000 across 27 of them in Toruń. The two finals below are the Nanjing 2025 and Toruń 2026 championships, and the ladder under them has not moved between the two.
The 2026 final
Toruń, 20 to 22 March 2026
| POS | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | MARK | PRIZE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christopher Morales Williams | CAN | 44.76 | $40,000 |
| 2 | Khaleb McRae | USA | 45.03 | $20,000 |
| 3 | Jereem Richards | TTO | 45.39 | $10,000 |
| 4 | Chris Robinson | USA | 45.55 | $8,000 |
| 5 | Tomáš Horák | CZE | 45.70 | $6,000 |
| 6 | Attila Molnár | HUN | 45.71 | $4,000 |
| 7 | Matheus Lima | BRA | 46.17 | — |
| 8 | Brian Onyari Tinega | KEN | 46.62 | — |
| 8 | finalists | 7 countries | — | $88,000 |
Everyone from 7th down carries a dash because the ladder stops at 6th: two of the eight athletes here went home with nothing from the prize fund. The six paid places came to $88,000.
The 2025 final
Nanjing, 21 to 23 March 2025
| POS | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | MARK | PRIZE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christopher Bailey | USA | 45.08 | $40,000 |
| 2 | Brian Faust | USA | 45.47 | $20,000 |
| 3 | Jacory Patterson | USA | 45.54 | $10,000 |
| 4 | Attila Molnár | HUN | 45.77 | $8,000 |
| 5 | Christopher Morales Williams | CAN | 46.71 | $6,000 |
| 6 | Matheus Lima | BRA | 46.94 | $4,000 |
| 6 | finalists | 19 countries | — | $88,000 |
The six paid places came to $88,000.
What each place is worth
The ladder, and who has taken each rung of it
| PLACE | PAYS | TORUŃ 2026 | NANJING 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | $40,000 | Christopher Morales Williams | Christopher Bailey |
| 2nd | $20,000 | Khaleb McRae | Brian Faust |
| 3rd | $10,000 | Jereem Richards | Jacory Patterson |
| 4th | $8,000 | Chris Robinson | Attila Molnár |
| 5th | $6,000 | Tomáš Horák | Christopher Morales Williams |
| 6th | $4,000 | Attila Molnár | Matheus Lima |
| The event | $88,000 | $88,000 paid | $88,000 paid |
The winner takes 45% of what the event pays out and the other five places share the rest. That shape is the same in every event on the indoor programme, relays included, so the chart is the championship's ladder rather than anything particular to the men's 400 metres.
What this field earns the rest of the year
The same athletes on the Diamond League money list
| ATHLETE | INDOORS | TOKYO | DL STARTS | DL WINS | DIAMOND LEAGUE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christopher Morales Williams | $46,000 | — | 4 | 0 | $6,500 |
| Christopher Bailey | $40,000 | — | 9 | 1 | $41,000 |
| Khaleb McRae | $20,000 | — | 6 | 0 | $15,000 |
| Attila Molnár | $12,000 | — | 6 | 0 | $9,750 |
| Jacory Patterson | $10,000 | $6,000 | 11 | 4 | $103,000 |
| Jereem Richards | $10,000 | $35,000 | 25 | 0 | $88,000 |
| Chris Robinson | $8,000 | — | 3 | 0 | $6,500 |
| Matheus Lima | $4,000 | — | 12 | 0 | $50,000 |
Three days in March against careers of Diamond League meetings. The series runs fifteen times a summer and pays six places at a fraction of these rates, which is why an indoor title is one of the larger single cheques in this field's year. The Tokyo column is the outdoor World Championships, where the same ladder runs eight places deep and a title pays $70,000.
Frequently asked questions
How much does the men's 400 metres pay at the World Indoor Championships?
The event carries $88,000, split six ways: $40,000 to the winner, $20,000 for second and $10,000 for third, down to $4,000 for 6th. In Toruń that came to $88,000.
Who won the men's 400 metres at the 2026 World Indoor Championships?
Christopher Morales Williams, in 44.76, for $40,000. Eight athletes contested the final in Toruń, from seven countries.
Does the men's 400 metres pay the same as every other indoor event?
Yes. Every event on the programme carries the same $88,000, and so does every relay, which makes the indoor championships the one meeting in athletics where a team of four and a single athlete are paid the same figure. Across 53 finals that comes to $4,664,000.
How many places does the men's 400 metres pay indoors?
Six. The ladder runs $40,000, $20,000, $10,000, $8,000, $6,000, $4,000, and 7th pays nothing. Two of the eight athletes in the 2026 final went home with nothing from the prize fund.
Is there a bonus for a world record in the men's 400 metres?
No. The indoor card is the ladder and nothing else, so a world record is worth the place it won and not a dollar more. Outdoors a world record adds $100,000 on top of the place money.
Did anyone in this final win indoor money elsewhere?
Christopher Morales Williams has taken $46,000 from two paid finishes, Attila Molnár has taken $12,000 from two paid finishes.
Where to next
The rest of the championships
Indoor Championships prize money holds all 53 finals, the 233 athletes who were paid and the $4,664,000 that was put up. World Championships prize money is the outdoor version, where a title pays $70,000 and the ladder runs eight deep, and Diamond League prize money is the series most of this field races all summer.
Every other event on the indoor programme
- Men's 1500 metres
- Men's 3000 metres
- Men's 60 metres
- Men's 60 metres hurdles
- Men's 800 metres
- Men's 4 × 400 metres relay
- Men's heptathlon
- Men's high jump
- Men's long jump
- Men's pole vault
- Men's shot put
- Men's triple jump
- Women's 1500 metres
- Women's 3000 metres
- Women's 400 metres
- Women's 60 metres
- Women's 60 metres hurdles
- Women's 800 metres
- Mixed 4 × 400 metres relay
- Women's 4 × 400 metres relay
- Women's high jump
- Women's long jump
- Women's pentathlon
- Women's pole vault
- Women's shot put
- Women's triple jump