Rai Benjamin
USA
Athletics
Overall Ranks
#21 among American Olympians
#17 among Track & Field Athletes
#15 among Male American Olympians
#12 among Male Track & Field Athletes
#10 among Male American Track & Field Athletes
Olympic Results
2020
400m Hurdles - Silver
4x400m Relay - Gold
2024
400m Hurdles - Gold
4x400m Relay - Gold
Total
Events - 4
Gold - 3
Silver - 1
Rai Benjamin was born on July 27, 1997 in Mount Vernon, New York, and was a 3-time New York State Champion in the hurdles before he graduated, first attending UCLA for a year, then USC for 2. He then decided to turn pro, but it took a year before he was approved to compete for the USA, because he had competed as a teen for Antigua & Barbuda, his father's home country, in one meet.
After winning silver in the 400m hurdles at the 2019 World Championships, Benjamin won the US Olympic Trials in 2021 in a personal-best time to qualify for the Tokyo Games. In the 400m hurdles, the favorite was Karsten Warholm of Norway, who had just broken the 33-year-old world record, setting it at 46.7 seconds. Warholm started fast, but Benjamin caught up by the third hurdle, then briefly lost his stride and fell behind again. He slowly worked his way back through the rest of the race, sitting just behind Warholm over the last hurdle, but his finish wasn't fast enough, and he took the silver medal with a time of 46.17 seconds, more than 0.5 faster than the world record, and still not good enough for gold.
He also competed in the 4x400m relay, where he ran the anchor leg for the favored Americans in the final. The USA was behind Botswana after the first lap, but took a slight lead by the midway point. The third American runner extended the lead to 0.7 seconds when he handed off to Benjamin, who ran the fastest leg of anyone in the race, finishing in 43.4 seconds to give team USA the gold by almost 1.5 seconds.
When he returned to the Olympics in 2004, the competition was the same, with Warholm and bronze medalist Alison dos Santos both competing and among the favorites. Benjamin won both of his heats, but Warholm had his signature fast start in the final, leading Benjamin clear until the 9th hurdle, when Benjamin pulled ahead, then turned on the jets, finishing the race 0.6 seconds ahead of his rival to take the gold medal.
He also ran the anchor leg in the 4x400m relay again, but it ended up much closer this time. Botswana led after the first lap again, and Great Britain passed both to take the lead at the halfway point, but Bryce Deadmon passed them both on the third leg to give Benjamin a lead of 0.24 seconds going into his leg, which turned out to be just enough, as Letsile Tebogo of Botswana ran the fastest leg of the race to nearly catch him, but Benjamin ran the second-fastest time of all to hold him off and win another gold, this time setting a new Olympic record in the process.
Last year, Benjamin announced that he would be focusing more on the 400m than the hurdles going forward, but two weeks ago he ran the hurdles in a meet in Switzerland and won the race, so he may be able to win more than 2 medals at the next Olympics in Los Angeles. Even if he doesn't, he has already established himself as one of the greatest Olympians of all time.
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