Rai Benjamin has solidified his position as a strong force in track and field. He finished the season with a world lead in the men’s 400-meter hurdles for the second year in a row. With a series of impressive performances this campaign, the 27-year-old regularly demonstrated exceptional speed and technical prowess, leaving his rivals in the dust.
The American hurdler clinched third place in the 400mh at the Budapest World Championships in 2023 and dominated the men’s 4×400-meter relay, securing gold.
While his medals in major competitions thrilled the track world, excitement peaked when he blazed through his final 2023 race at the Prefontaine Classic, clocking a blistering 46.39 seconds. This performance catapulted Benjamin to the top of the campaign’s global rankings, silently signaling his readiness for the upcoming year.
Rai Benjamin finishes the season as the global leader in the men’s 400mH for the second year in a row.
He also claimed his 1st individual GOLD at the Paris Olympics! pic.twitter.com/YBrpSVweHC
— Track & Field Gazette (@TrackGazette) September 27, 2024
The athlete kicked off 2024 by completing a flat 400-meter sprint at the Mt. SAC Relays before shifting his focus to hurdles, where he achieved a time of 46.64 seconds at the USATF Los Angeles Grand Prix.
His performance in this event raised the bar significantly, as it surpassed his average time from the 2023 season when he only managed to break the sub-47 mark in the final event of the campaign.
Benjamin breezed through the 2024 Olympic qualification at the US Olympic Trials, his third track meet of the year. He clinched first place in the finals with a time of 46.46 seconds, securing his ticket to Paris. Subsequently, he clocked 46.67 seconds at the Monaco Diamond League just before the Olympics.
Expectations soared for Benjamin to clinch gold in Paris, and his identical time to the US Olympic Trials (46.46) validated these hopes. The athlete not only added another Olympic gold to his impressive collection but also anchored Team USA to victory in the men’s 4×400-meter relay, outpacing Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo.
Despite facing a challenging race, Benjamin overcame all obstacles, proving himself worthy of the title of two-time Olympic champion. Following the Olympics, Benjamin abstained from further competitions, concluding his triumphant track and field season.
He topped the 400-meter hurdles rankings with a time of 46.46, followed by Alison Dos-Santos (46.63), Karsten Warhlom (46.70), Caleb Dean (47.23), Malik James-King and Clement Ducos (tied at 47.42), Roshawn Clark (47.49), Alessandro Sibilo (47.50), Abderrahman Samba (47.58), and Imsail Doudai Abakar (47.72).
Benjamin’s time, more than a second faster than the tenth-place holder, underscored his dominance in every event he entered.
