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ULTIMATE CHAMPIONSHIP · BUDAPEST 2026 · TRACK

Women's 1500 metres prize money

Klaudia Kazimierska won the women's 1500 metres at the 2026 Ultimate Championship in 3:57.55 and took $150,000. Second was worth $75,000 and third $40,000, so the final paid $265,000 across its published places.

Twelve athletes lined up in the final, from seven countries. The championship put up $10,000,000 in all and pays every athlete in it out of that, so the athletes below third were paid too, at rates World Athletics has not published.

THE WINNER TOOK $150,000
THIS FINAL PAID $265,000
IN THE FINAL 12
COUNTRIES 7
PLACES PAID 3

The final

Budapest, 11 to 13 September 2026

$265,000 paid
The women's 1500 metres final at the 2026 Ultimate Championship, with what each place paid.
POS ATHLETE COUNTRY MARK PRIZE
1 Klaudia Kazimierska Poland POL 3:57.55 $150,000
2 Georgia Hunter Bell Great Britain GBR 3:57.72 $75,000
3 Nikki Hiltz United States USA 3:58.16 $40,000
4 Freweyni Hailu Ethiopia ETH 3:58.44 —
5 Dorcus Ewoi Kenya KEN 3:58.55 —
6 Abbey Caldwell Australia AUS 3:58.64 —
7 Emily Mackay United States USA 3:59.16 —
8 Agathe Guillemot France FRA 3:59.40 —
9 Jessica Hull Australia AUS 3:59.97 —
10 Saron Berhe Ethiopia ETH 4:00.28 —
11 Birke Haylom Ethiopia ETH 4:03.75 —
12 Haregeweyni Kalayu Ethiopia ETH 4:06.14 —
12 finalists 7 countries — $265,000
Klaudia Kazimierska $150k Georgia Hunter Bell $75k Nikki Hiltz $40k

Every individual event at the championship pays the same $265,000 across three places, so this chart is the card rather than anything particular to the women's 1500 metres. What it shows is the shape of it: the winner takes 57% of what the event pays out. Below that the championship still pays. $10,000,000 went in and $7,090,000 of it is on the published card, so the athletes who finished outside the places above were paid out of the rest.

What the podium earns the rest of the year

The same athletes on the Diamond League money list

3 of 3
What the athletes paid in this final have earned across the Diamond League.
ATHLETE BUDAPEST DL STARTS DL WINS DIAMOND LEAGUE
Klaudia Kazimierska Poland $150,000 6 1 $73,000
Georgia Hunter Bell Great Britain $75,000 21 4 $130,250
Nikki Hiltz United States $40,000 10 2 $46,750

One afternoon in Budapest against careers of Diamond League meetings: the series pays eight places, fifteen times a summer, at a fraction of these rates, which is what makes the $150,000 here the biggest single cheque in the sport.

Frequently asked questions

How much did the women's 1500 metres pay at the 2026 Ultimate Championship?

$265,000: $150,000 to Klaudia Kazimierska, $75,000 for second and $40,000 for third.

Who won the women's 1500 metres in Budapest?

Klaudia Kazimierska, in 3:57.55, for $150,000. Twelve athletes lined up in the final from seven countries, and twelve finished with a mark.

What did second and third pay?

$75,000 and $40,000. The same three figures cover every individual event at the championship, so this final paid exactly what every other one did.

How many places does the Ultimate Championship pay?

Three in an individual event, out of a $10,000,000 pot that every athlete in the championship takes a share of. Across all 28 events that published card accounts for $7,090,000, and the $2,910,000 below it is not broken down anywhere.

Where to next

The rest of the championship

Ultimate Championship prize money holds all 28 events, the 76 athletes who were paid and the $10,000,000 that was put up. Diamond League prize money is the series most of this field races all summer. The senior women's race at the World Cross Country Championships is where this distance goes in the winter. It has paid $280,000 across two championships, $30,000 to win, and a second ladder the same size again to the federations behind the first six countries in the team standing.

Every other event in Budapest