Rai Benjamin’s battle with Karsten Warholm proved to be one of the most epic contests at last year’s Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, with the two rivals posting the two fastest men’s 400-meter hurdles times in history as the Norwegian Warholm ultimately charged to the gold medal.
Their rematch Tuesday at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, once again saw Benjamin cross the line second, but this time he was behind Brazil’s Alison Dos Santos, the Tokyo bronze medalist. Fellow American Trevor Bassitt, who ran collegiately at Div II Ashland University, took third as Warholm struggled to keep up down the stretch.
Warholm got off to the fastest start and maintained a slight lead at the midway point, but the Norwegian, who had battled injuries earlier this season and hadn’t finished an outdoor race in 2022 prior to the prelims this week, faded hard going into the final straight, while Dos Santos surged into the lead.
The Brazilian, who is undefeated this season, won in 46.29 seconds, with Benjamin following in a season-best 46.89 and Bassitt in 47.39, a personal best. Fellow American Khallifah Rosser took fifth in 47.88, while Warholm ended in seventh at 48.42, nearly 2.5 seconds behind his world-record run from Tokyo. (www.teamusa.org)