The championships feature 49
events, 24 for men, 24 for women, and the mixed 4x400m relay, which was won by
the United States on the opening night. World Athletics confirmed that the
prize purse remains the same as in the 2023 edition held in Budapest.
Winners of individual events will
each pocket Sh9.03 million,
while gold medal relay teams will split Sh10.32
million.
Athletes who reach the final eight of their respective events
will also take home cash rewards.
Prize money for individual events:
- 1st place – Sh9,030,000
- 2nd place – Sh4,515,000
- 3rd place – Sh2,838,000
- 4th place – Sh2,064,000
- 5th place – Sh1,419,000
- 6th place – Sh903,000
- 7th place – Sh774,000
- 8th place – Sh645,000
Prize money for relay events (per
team):
- 1st place – Sh10,320,000
- 2nd place – Sh5,160,000
- 3rd place – Sh2,580,000
- 4th place – Sh2,064,000
- 5th place – Sh1,548,000
- 6th place – Sh1,032,000
- 7th place – Sh774,000
- 8th place – Sh516,000
Athletes will also earn a Sh12.9 million bonus
for breaking a world record during the championships.
If combined with a gold
medal win, that could mean a total payday of Sh21.93 million for an individual athlete.
For comparison, prize money at
Diamond League events in 2025 was lower.
Winners of regular series meets earned
Sh1.29 million, while the
Diamond League final awarded Sh3.87
million.
Diamond+ meets paid Sh2.58
million for series wins and Sh6.45
million for victories in the final.
By contrast, World Aquatics offered
a Sh5.16 million bonus for every
world record broken at its world championships in Singapore earlier this year,
less than half the bonus provided by World Athletics in Tokyo.
The 2025 World Athletics
Championships are being staged at the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo,
attracting the world’s best talent to the global stage.
