WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS · TOKYO 2025 · RELAY

Men's 4 × 400 metres relay prize money

Q: How much did the men's 4 × 400 metres relay pay at the 2025 World Championships?

$186,000, across eight paid places: $80,000 to Botswana, $40,000 for second and $20,000 for third, down to $4,000 for 8th.

Q: What did second and third pay?

$40,000 and $20,000. The same ladder covers every relay at the championships, so this final paid exactly what every other relay did.

Q: Do the four runners split the prize money?

Not in any way World Athletics publishes. The $80,000 is paid to the team, and how a federation divides it between the four who ran the final, and the reserves who ran the heats, is its own business.

Botswana won the men's 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in 2:57.76 and took $80,000. Second was worth $40,000 and third $20,000, and the money ran eight deep, so the final paid $186,000 in all.

Nine teams ran the final. 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 WINNING TEAM TOOK $80,000

THIS FINAL PAID $186,000

TEAMS 9

THE EVENT CARRIES $186,000

PLACES PAID 8

The final

Tokyo, 13 to 21 September 2025

$186,000 paid

The men's 4 × 400 metres relay final at the 2025 World Athletics Championships, with what each place paid.
POS	TEAM	THE TEAM	TIME	PRIZE
1	Botswana	Lee Eppie, Letsile Tebogo, Bayapo Ndori, Collen Kebinatshipi	2:57.76	$80,000
2	United States	Vernon Norwood, Jacory Patterson, Khaleb McRae, Rai Benjamin	2:57.83	$40,000
3	South Africa	Lythe Pillay, Udeme Okon, Wayde van Niekerk, Zakithi Nene	2:57.83	$20,000
4	Belgium	Jonathan Sacoor, Robin Vanderbemden, Alexander Doom, Daniel Segers	2:59.48	$16,000
5	Qatar	Ammar Ibrahim, Bassem Hemeida, Ismail Abakar, Abderrahman Samba	3:01.64	$12,000
6	Great Britain	Lee Thompson, Toby Harries, Lewis Davey, Charlie Dobson	3:03.05	$8,000
7	Jamaica	Delano Kennedy, Jevaughn Powell, Jasauna Dennis, Rusheen McDonald	3:03.46	$6,000
8	Netherlands	Jonas Phijffers, Terrence Agard, Liemarvin Bonevacia, Ramsey Angela	3:04.84	$4,000
9	Portugal	Pedro Afonso, Omar Elkhatib, João Coelho, Ricardo dos Santos	3:09.06	—
9	teams	16 countries	—	$186,000

Everyone from 9th down carries a dash because the ladder stops at 8th: one of the nine teams here went home with nothing from the prize fund. The eight paid places came to $186,000.

What each place was worth

The ladder, and what this final actually handed over

$186,000 an event

The men's 4 × 400 metres relay prize ladder at the World Athletics Championships.
PLACE	THE LADDER	WHO TOOK IT	PAID
1st	$80,000	Botswana	$80,000
2nd	$40,000	United States	$40,000
3rd	$20,000	South Africa	$20,000
4th	$16,000	Belgium	$16,000
5th	$12,000	Qatar	$12,000
6th	$8,000	Great Britain	$8,000
7th	$6,000	Jamaica	$6,000
8th	$4,000	Netherlands	$4,000
The event	$186,000
eight paid	$186,000

Botswana $80k
United States $40k
South Africa $20k
Belgium $16k
Qatar $12k
Great Britain $8,000
Jamaica $6,000
Netherlands $4,000

The winner takes 43% of what the event pays out and the other seven places share the rest. That shape is the same in every relay on the programme, so the chart is the championship's ladder rather than anything particular to the men's 4 × 400 metres relay.

Everyone who ran the relay

All 36 of them, across the 9 teams in the final

$80,000 to the winners

A team is named on the result table in running order. The purse is paid to the federation as one payment at every one of the eight paid places, from $80,000 for the win down to $4,000 for 8th, and the split between the four is not published.

Frequently asked questions

How much did the men's 4 × 400 metres relay pay at the 2025 World Championships?

$186,000, across eight paid places: $80,000 to Botswana, $40,000 for second and $20,000 for third, down to $4,000 for 8th.

Who won the men's 4 × 400 metres relay in Tokyo?

Botswana, in 2:57.76 (Lee Eppie, Letsile Tebogo, Bayapo Ndori, Collen Kebinatshipi), for $80,000. Nine teams ran the final.

What did second and third pay?

$40,000 and $20,000. The same ladder covers every relay at the championships, so this final paid exactly what every other relay did.

How many places does the men's 4 × 400 metres relay pay?

Eight. The ladder runs $80,000, $40,000, $20,000, $16,000, $12,000, $8,000, $6,000, $4,000, which is $186,000 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.

Do the four runners split the prize money?

Not in any way World Athletics publishes. The $80,000 is paid to the team, and how a federation divides it between the four who ran the final, and the reserves who ran the heats, is its own business.

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 World Athletics Relays is the one championship in the sport with no individual event on it at all: 12 finals across two editions, $40,000 to the winning team and a ladder that reaches all eight teams in a final.