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WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS · TOKYO 2025 · TRACK

Men's 1500 metres prize money

Isaac Nader won the men's 1500 metres at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in 3:34.10 and took $70,000. Second was worth $35,000 and third $22,000, and the money ran eight deep, so the final paid $172,000 in all.

Fourteen athletes started the final, from eleven countries. The championships put up $8,498,000 in Tokyo and spread it eight places deep in every event, which is deeper than any other meeting in athletics pays.

THE WINNER TOOK $70,000
THIS FINAL PAID $172,000
IN THE FINAL 14
COUNTRIES 11
PLACES PAID 8

The final

Tokyo, 13 to 21 September 2025

$172,000 paid
The men's 1500 metres final at the 2025 World Athletics Championships, with what each place paid.
POS ATHLETE COUNTRY MARK PRIZE
1 Isaac Nader Portugal POR 3:34.10 $70,000
2 Jake Wightman Great Britain GBR 3:34.12 $35,000
3 Reynold Cheruiyot Kenya KEN 3:34.25 $22,000
4 Timothy Cheruiyot Kenya KEN 3:34.50 $16,000
5 Niels Laros Netherlands NED 3:34.52 $11,000
6 Robert Farken Germany GER 3:35.15 $7,000
7 Federico Riva Italy ITA 3:35.33 $6,000
8 Adrián Ben Spain ESP 3:35.38 $5,000
9 Tshepo Tshite South Africa RSA 3:35.50 —
10 Neil Gourley Great Britain GBR 3:35.56 —
11 Samuel Pihlström Sweden SWE 3:35.74 —
12 Andrew Coscoran Ireland IRL 3:35.87 —
13 Jonah Koech United States USA 3:37.00 —
14 Josh Kerr Great Britain GBR 4:11.23 —
14 finalists 11 countries — $172,000

Everyone from 9th down carries a dash because the ladder stops at 8th: six of the fourteen athletes here went home with nothing from the prize fund. The eight paid places came to $172,000.

What each place was worth

The ladder, and what this final actually handed over

$172,000 an event
The men's 1500 metres prize ladder at the World Athletics Championships.
PLACE THE LADDER WHO TOOK IT PAID
1st $70,000 Isaac Nader $70,000
2nd $35,000 Jake Wightman $35,000
3rd $22,000 Reynold Cheruiyot $22,000
4th $16,000 Timothy Cheruiyot $16,000
5th $11,000 Niels Laros $11,000
6th $7,000 Robert Farken $7,000
7th $6,000 Federico Riva $6,000
8th $5,000 Adrián Ben $5,000
The event $172,000
eight paid $172,000
Isaac Nader $70k Jake Wightman $35k Reynold Cheruiyot $22k Timothy Cheruiyot $16k Niels Laros $11k Robert Farken $7,000
Federico Riva $6,000
Adrián Ben $5,000

The winner takes 41% of what the event pays out and the other seven places share the rest. That shape is the same in every individual event on the programme, so the chart is the championship's ladder rather than anything particular to the men's 1500 metres.

What this field earns the rest of the year

The same athletes on the Diamond League money list

7 of 8
What the athletes paid in this final have earned across the Diamond League.
ATHLETE TOKYO DL STARTS DL WINS DIAMOND LEAGUE
Isaac Nader Portugal $70,000 13 1 $29,750
Jake Wightman Great Britain $35,000 18 4 $71,750
Reynold Cheruiyot Kenya $22,000 21 1 $69,500
Timothy Cheruiyot Kenya $16,000 36 10 $260,500
Niels Laros Netherlands $11,000 8 3 $91,000
Robert Farken Germany $7,000 13 0 $12,500
Adrián Ben Spain $5,000 9 0 $7,750

Nine days in Tokyo 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 what makes a world title the biggest single cheque most of this field will ever collect.

Frequently asked questions

How much did the men's 1500 metres pay at the 2025 World Championships?

$172,000, across eight paid places: $70,000 to Isaac Nader, $35,000 for second and $22,000 for third, down to $5,000 for 8th.

Who won the men's 1500 metres in Tokyo?

Isaac Nader, in 3:34.10, for $70,000. Fourteen athletes started the final, from eleven countries.

What did second and third pay?

$35,000 and $22,000. The same ladder covers every individual event at the championships, so this final paid exactly what every other one did.

How many places does the men's 1500 metres pay?

Eight. The ladder runs $70,000, $35,000, $22,000, $16,000, $11,000, $7,000, $6,000, $5,000, which is $172,000 for the event, and below 8th it pays nothing. Across all 49 events that comes to the $8,498,000 World Athletics put up for Tokyo.

Where to next

The rest of the championships

World Championships prize money holds all 49 events, the 334 athletes who were paid and the $8,498,000 that was put up. Diamond League prize money is the series most of this field races all summer, and the Ultimate Championship is the one meeting that pays more for a win. The senior men'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 Tokyo