Surreal Trio of athletics: Rai Benjamin edges out Karsten Warholm and Alison dos Santos to seize 400m hurdles gold

Kevin Young did not race in the Men’s 400m Hurdles final at Paris Olympics, but it is worth mentioning his name for context. On August 6, 1992 he won gold at Barcelona Olympics, running a stunning 46.78 seconds race, and becoming the first man to break the 47-seconds barrier in the event. That record stood for nearly three decades until Karsten Warholm broke it July 2021 with 46.70s. In the two years since that remarkable feat by Warholm, Young’s 46.78s has been pushed to No 19 on the list of best timings in Men’s 400m Hurdles. In fact, Young’s 1992 feat is now the only timing in the top 25 all-time that is not owned by Karsten Warholm or Rai Benjamin or Alison dos Santos.

The incredible trio, who have elevated this event into one of the most hotly-anticipated races at any global meet, were back on the podium… just as they were in Tokyo. But on Friday night in Paris, it was Rai Benjamin’s turn to finally win a major individual title. And he clocked 46.46s – of course, another entry into the top 5 of all time, matching his effort from earlier this year.

Back in Tokyo, it was Warholm ahead of Benjamin for the gold medal while dos Santos clinched bronze that day as well. Benjamin had registered 46.17s… a scarcely believable time, which would have broken Warholm’s existing World Record. Except, Warholm had run 45.94s to set the new benchmark and take gold. Dos Santos’ 46.72s for the third place was only 0.02 seconds better than Warholm’s older world record. The three men made the world watch on in awe in what is now considered to be one of the greatest races ever in the history of the Olympic Games across sport.

At Stade de France, it wasn’t as explosive, but it wasn’t short on intrigue either. Warholm hasn’t looked unbeatable in the lead up to Paris, even finishing second behind dos Santos at the Diamond League in his own backyard at Oslo. Benjamin had the timing to beat for 2024. And he ended up matching that mark to remain the World Leader for 2024. It was also the 10th sub-47-second clocking of his career alone, a mark that hadn’t been achieved even once before Young broken

“It feels great, to be honest,” Benjamin told World Athletics. “I got the s*** done, man. I finally got it done. This colour of the medal has eluded me for so long, and to get it done in this fashion, in front of my friends and family just means so much to me. In a way, the weight has been lifted. I don’t think I ever doubted it, it was more about staying patient and keep showing up every day. I told myself, ‘it has to go my way at some point’. It went my way today and that’s all I can ask for.”

Rai Benjamin is son of former West Indies cricketer Winston Benjamin but didn’t pick up his father’s sport. In fact Winston recalled Rai being quite bad at it. But what Rai did pick up was life lessons in sport. “We were talking about the ups and downs of life, and then the topic drifted to my cricketing career, about the life lessons I learned from the sport, about dealing with success and failure, and about being grounded in life,” Winston had said once.

It is that ability to persist that has finally paid off as Benjamin gets the gold that he has been waiting for.

“I know my last 200 is lethal and I know that I can outrun anyone at that point in the race. I just relied on that, trusted what I’ve done all season. That was the game changer for me today. He (Warholm) wanted to win, everyone in that field wanted to win. It wasn’t going to be given to anyone, I had to come out and take it,” Benjamin said.

Whenever Benjamon-Warholm-Dos Santos move on from the sport, they will do so knowing that they have elevated Men’s 400m Hurdles into rarified territory. The 100m races might always be the big-ticket events at the Major games, but as the commentator put it at the end of the race last night, these three are to athletics what Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal-Novak Djokovic were to tennis. You couldn’t put it any better.

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