American sprinter Rai Benjamin defeated world record holder Karsten Warholm of Norway and Brazil’s Alison dos Santos in the 400-meter hurdles final to win a gold medal in the Olympic Games in Paris on friday.
Benjamin clocked 46.46 seconds in the race, putting him a few steps ahead of Warholm (47.06) and Dos Santos (47.26) – two of the fastest men in the world. Despite his awkward landing after the eighth hurdle, Benjamin still rode to first place.
Benjamin won silver behind Warholm when the Norwegian set the world record at the Tokyo Games three years ago. It is the second Olympic gold for the 27-year-old Benjamin, who was part of the 4×400 relay team that won in Tokyo.
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Earlier in the day, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone set a world record in the women’s 400-meter hurdles. McLaughlin-Levrone ran 50.37 seconds, bettering her own previous world record time of 50.65 seconds, set at the U.S. Olympic Trials in June.
And thanks in part to a thundering effort in rainy conditions from Sha’Carri Richardson, the US also secured a gold medal Friday in the women’s 4×100 meter relay.
