Men's 800 metres indoor prize money
Cooper Lutkenhaus won the men's 800 metres at the 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships in 1:44.24 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.
Six athletes contested the final in Toruń, from six 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 | Cooper Lutkenhaus | USA | 1:44.24 | $40,000 |
| 2 | Eliott Crestan | BEL | 1:44.38 | $20,000 |
| 3 | Mohamed Attaoui | ESP | 1:44.66 | $10,000 |
| 4 | Peter Bol | AUS | 1:45.14 | $8,000 |
| 5 | Marino Bloudek | CRO | 1:45.31 | $6,000 |
| 6 | Allon Tatsunami Clay | JPN | 1:45.42 | $4,000 |
| 6 | finalists | 6 countries | — | $88,000 |
The six paid places came to $88,000.
The 2025 final
Nanjing, 21 to 23 March 2025
| POS | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | MARK | PRIZE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Josh Hoey | USA | 1:44.77 | $40,000 |
| 2 | Eliott Crestan | BEL | 1:44.81 | $20,000 |
| 3 | Josué Canales | ESP | 1:45.03 | $10,000 |
| 4 | Samuel Chapple | NED | 1:45.55 | $8,000 |
| 5 | Brandon Miller | USA | 1:46.44 | $6,000 |
| 6 | Tom Dradiga | UGA | 1:50.19 | $4,000 |
| 6 | finalists | 5 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 | Cooper Lutkenhaus | Josh Hoey |
| 2nd | $20,000 | Eliott Crestan | Eliott Crestan |
| 3rd | $10,000 | Mohamed Attaoui | Josué Canales |
| 4th | $8,000 | Peter Bol | Samuel Chapple |
| 5th | $6,000 | Marino Bloudek | Brandon Miller |
| 6th | $4,000 | Allon Tatsunami Clay | Tom Dradiga |
| 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 800 metres.
What this field earns the rest of the year
The same athletes on the Diamond League money list
| ATHLETE | INDOORS | DL STARTS | DL WINS | DIAMOND LEAGUE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cooper Lutkenhaus | $40,000 | 2 | 2 | $20,000 |
| Josh Hoey | $40,000 | 6 | 1 | $39,500 |
| Eliott Crestan | $40,000 | 9 | 0 | $16,500 |
| Mohamed Attaoui | $10,000 | 12 | 1 | $33,500 |
| Peter Bol | $8,000 | 11 | 0 | $27,500 |
| Brandon Miller | $6,000 | 4 | 1 | $21,000 |
| Marino Bloudek | $6,000 | 2 | 0 | $2,000 |
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.
Frequently asked questions
How much does the men's 800 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 800 metres at the 2026 World Indoor Championships?
Cooper Lutkenhaus, in 1:44.24, for $40,000. Six athletes contested the final in Toruń, from six countries.
Does the men's 800 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 800 metres pay indoors?
Six. The ladder runs $40,000, $20,000, $10,000, $8,000, $6,000, $4,000, and 7th pays nothing.
Is there a bonus for a world record in the men's 800 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?
Eliott Crestan has taken $40,000 from two paid finishes, Samuel Chapple has taken $14,000 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 400 metres
- Men's 60 metres
- Men's 60 metres hurdles
- 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