by Larry Eder
Rai Benjamin had fun in Boston, but the focus is on Tokyo 2025!
Rai Benjamin’s run for Paris gold began in September 2023 at the Nike Pre-Classid. With two hurdles, he went by Karsten Warholm and started his run to the Olympics, where he won two gold medals.
Last November, Rai told this writer that he felt great in Paris and that the confidence he regained from the NIKE Pre win at the end of 2023 was a big part of his success. He also told me about holding off Letsile Tebogo in the 4×400 meters and how it took all that he had. Rai had kept something left for the final 100 meters, testing Tebogo every 50 meters until He could not advance. It was like a moving chess game. How would Rai Benjamin hold off the 200-meter gold medalist? ” I changed my race plan just before the exchange. ” Benjamin told me in November.
The 300 meters was fun to watch in Boston. Vernon Norwood is the veteran 400-meter star ( a man who has scored 400m PBs in the last 4 seasons). Rai Benjamin held off until the last fifty meters and made the race his own, running 32.31 with Vernon Norwood at 32.39.
The 300-meter race is challenging, even for a 400-meter guy. It is said that a fit person can run 300 meters nearly all out before they fill their legs with lactic acid. In the indoor race, we witnessed two of the most demanding 400-meter racers in the modern era holding their moves until the last fifty meters. It was a fun race to watch!
Eugene, Oregon, USA
June 21-30, 2024, photo by Kevin Morris
When the media asked Rai how he felt about his win in Boston, he said, “It felt really good. I am just trying to get a good one in because it’s hard to practice by yourself. I’m happy I can come here and do it with V (Vernon Norwood). We talked about it a couple of weeks ago, so we made it happen.
In my short interview with Rai, seen below, Rai told me he was focused on staying healthy and knew that he had an extremely long season with the World Champs in September 2025.
Rai Benjamin answered my queries on 300 meters and then if he would ever run the 400m indoor hurdles or a 600 meters! Thanks @_Kingben_ for your answers! #NBIGP, #worldindoortourgold, pic.twitter.com/r5fRkUCmof
— RunBlogRun (@RunBlogRun) February 2, 2025
I asked Rai if he would run the indoor 400-meter hurdles, a race featured in Birmingham at the Indoor for several years.
“No, No, No. I am too tall to do that indoors, and it would get me injured.”
What we see in Rai Benjamin is an experienced athlete who knows what it feels like to succeed. Rai likes that feeling and will focus on health and fitness as the season begins in 2025.
Rai finished with this comment in the mixed zone:
“I just need to get better. That’s about it. It’s a long year and early, so I’m happy I can come out and put down that time this early. “
