How much money does the average professional track and field athlete make?

Answer 1

I dont think average is a good way to estimate how much they make.. track is similar to swimming and other individual sports that are only marketable once every 4 years.. and so top athletes that are good enough to score sponsors or win price money would earn big bucks.. the rest.. below a college graduate average

Answer 2

Average? That's almost impossible to say because unlike other sports which have union representation with salary scales and minimums, track athletes are independent contractors. How they're paid has more in common with entertainers that most professional athletes.

There are elite, and national class professionals. Some are represented by agents and others are rep'd by their nation's sporting body and that nation might control the athlete's earnings.

When one considers what an athlete may get paid with shoe & apparel contracts, appearance fees (for competing), prize money, and endorsement deals, this can easily grow into the millions, especially if the athlete either wins Olympic gold medals or sets WRs.

In 2004, (most up to date info available) the top grossing track athletes (prize money only) were:

MEN -
1. Christian Olsson, SWE $644,660
2. Kenenisa Bekele, ETH $162,922
3. Allen Johnson, USA $145,740
4. Bernard Lagat, KEN $137,270
5. Asafa Powell, JAM $129,820
6. Saif Saaeed Shaheen, QAT $129,542
7. Ivan Heshko, UKR $125,876
8. Paul Korir, KEN $122,800
9. Wilfred Bungei, KEN $105,216
10. Felix Sánchez, DOM $97,720

WOMEN -
1. Tonique Williams-Darling, BAH $571,950
2. Yelena Isinbayeva, RUS $374,250
3. Tatyana Lebedeva, RUS $210,306
4. Hestrie Cloete, RSA $173,545
5. Yelena Slesarenko, RUS $136,040
6. Kelly Holmes, GBR $125,812
7. Debbie Ferguson, BAH $117,054
8. Aleen Bailey, JAM $113,330
9. Elvan Abeylegesse, TUR $111,150
10. Perdita Felicien, CAN $106,070

In some years, athletes have exceed $1,000,000 in prize money alone. As I mentioned before, In certain cases, athletes are paid an appearance fee in lieu of potential prize money, while in some cases, they receive both. Those instances are not generally reported, but as an example, Paula Radcliffe received $500,000 (£272,000) to run the New York City Marathon. And American Silver medalist sprinter Lauryn Williams stands to earn $250,000 or more per year from Nike. That's before she gets into appearance fees at track meets, likely to run $15,000-$20,000 apiece, with European organizers offering the higher end. She got $15,000 from the U.S. Olympic Committee for the 100 silver in 2004.

Answer 3

It varies from one average athlete to another. You can be just as average as the guy running in lane 8 but if you are more marketable off the field, you'll make a lot more money that that other average athlete.