This is Stuart Weir’s story on the incredible Men’s 400m hurdles, where Rai Benjamin, after three years of trying to defeat Karston Warholm in a major championship, finally accomplishes his goal.
Men’s 400h shock result or possibly not, by Stuart Weir
I have always liked Karsten Warholm. His talent is undeniable, but there is a lot more to him. I cannot ever recall him being unwilling to chat after a race. I remember a press conference in London when he announced “I am from the Scottish part of Norway – I like money” and went on to elaborate on his plan to buy a racehorse and have his coach train it with the athletes! I also read that Karsten is into Lego, having built models of the Disney Castle and Manchester United’s Old Trafford football stadium.
Olympic Champion in 2021, World Champion in 2017, 2019 and 2023, ranked number 1 in 400h for 203 consecutive weeks, he simply dominated his event and seemed unbeatable. Then this year at the Herculis in Monaco, Rai Benjamin beat him 46.67 to 46.73 and on his home track, in Oslo, Alison dos Santos beat him 46.63/46.70. Perhaps he was vulnerable.
Come the Olympic final it finished
1 Benjamin 46.46
2 Warholm 47.06
3 Dos Santos 47.26
Benjamin said afterwards “It feels great, to be honest. I got the shit done, man. I got it done. I finally got it done. In a way, the weight has been lifted. 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. 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.”
Incidentally, The Olympic movement was so shocked that Benjamin has said “shit” that his official flash quote was headed “Language warning”. They should get out more!
Warholm was polite and gracious as always:” “Rai did a great job being composed and he is bringing home the gold. At this level everybody says they deserve it. But whoever takes it, he is the man of the day. Of course, I wanted gold. But still, I have got to be happy with the medal – a medal for me, a medal for my country, so it is a proud moment as well. It is something that I should look back at and probably be proud of, but of course, at the moment, when you are fighting for gold, it is tough. We have set the bar really high for ourselves. It was a really good race and a good match-up.”
He also added a technical point: “For me, I think it was a good first 300, then I messed up hurdle nine because I had a little bit lactic and I could not get the flow from eight to nine. At that point, I felt like it was a good race and I was in control of everything that I planned. But you cannot afford those mistakes at this level or it is a silver medal”.
My personal best memory of Rai was in Italy when interviewed by Radiotelevisione Italiana, known as RAI. He thanked them for remembering him!
