How much did Jakob Ingebrigtsen earn for breaking the world record at Silesia Diamond League? Exploring the prize money in track and field

Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the Norwegian long-distance sensation, broke the 28-year-old world record for the 3000 meters at the Silesia Diamond League. His impressive victory earned him a bonus prize of $50,000.

Days after becoming the 5000m Olympic champion, Ingebrigtsen participated in the 12th leg of the annual Diamond League meet in Silesia's Silesian Stadium on Sunday, August 25, where he won the 3000m event with a new world record time of 7:17.55. He surpassed Kenya's Daniel Komen, who had held the record since 1996, at 7:20.67. The 23-year-old narrowly missed breaking the world record last September, falling short by just three seconds.

As mentioned earlier, Ingebrigtsen was awarded an additional $50,000 cash prize, in addition to the $10,000 that is given to the winner of each race in the Diamond League. On that note, let's explore how much money Ingebrigtsen and other athletes earn from victories in competitions like the Diamond League and the Olympics.

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How much cash reward do Jakob Ingebrigtsen and other athletes receive for Diamond League wins

Jakob Ingebrigtsen at Olympic Games-Paris 2024 - Source: Getty

According to the Diamond League’s official website, the top eight athletes in each event at every leg are eligible to receive a portion of the competition's prize pool. The winner gets $10,000, the runner-up is rewarded with $6,000, and the third-place finisher receives $3,500. Athletes in fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth place are awarded $2,000, $1,250, $1,000, $750, and $500, respectively.

On the other hand, during the Diamond League finals, the winner receives $30,000, while the second and third-place finishers earn $12,000 and $7,000, respectively. From fourth to eighth place, athletes receive $4,000, $2,500, $2,000, $1,500, and $1,000, respectively.

In addition to that, there is also a minimum additional bonus of $50,000 for athletes like Jakob Ingebrigtsen who break a world record during a Diamond League meet.

Olympics prize money distribution

Athletes competing in the quadrennial Olympic Games are only limited to medals, as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) does not reward athletes with prize money for winning medals. However, the participants still receive cash prizes from their respective countries.

During the Paris Olympics 2024, Hong Kong was at the top of the medal bonuses list, with the gold medalists getting $768,000 and the silver and bronze medalists receiving $384,000 and $192,000, respectively. In contrast, the United States was in tenth place on the list, as their gold medal winners received $38,000, while second- and third-place finishers earned $23,000 and $15,000, respectively.

Here is the complete list of medal bonuses by country for the Paris Olympics (Via CNBC.com).

Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Hong Kong	$768,000	$384,000	$192,000
Singapore	$745,000	$373,000	$186,000
Indonesia	$300,000	$150,000	$60,000
Israel	$271,000	$216,000	$135,000
Republic of Kazakhstan	$250,000	$150,000	$75,000
Malaysia	$216,000	$65,000	$22,000
Spain	$102,000	$52,000	$33,000
France	$87,000	$43,000	$22,000
South Korea	$45,000	$25,000	$18,000
United States	$38,000	$23,000	$15,000