Former UCLA Bruins hurdler Rai Benjamin has finally done it! The 27-year-old is an Olympic gold medal winner! After many years of winning silver and bronze medals, Benjamin beat Karsten Warholm of Norway and Alison dos Santos of Brazil to win the men’s 400-meter hurdles.
His winning time was 46.46, which is just a few tenths of a second slower than his final in Tokyo back in 2023. During that race, both he and Warhold beat the world record, but Warholm came across just ahead of Benjamin.
After winning the gold, Benjamin had this to say about his accomplishment:
“It has eluded me for so long, this color medal. To get it done here, in this fashion, at the Olympic Games in front of my friends and family, it just means so much to me.”
Call him @_Kingben_ 🥇
Rai Benjamin is the 400m hurdles Olympic champion!#ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/Lxl8Cmf4fC
— Team USA (@TeamUSA) August 9, 2024
Benjamin was with the UCLA Bruins in 2016 and 2017 and finished his collegiate career at USC in 2018. Before his time at UCLA, he was a three-time New York State Public High School Athletic Association champion in the hurdles.
But, that was not all for Benjamin. Later, on Saturday, he was the anchor for the men’s 4x400m relay. He was able to hold off a runner from Botswana to help the US the gold medal.