Rai Benjamin (born July 27, 1997) is an American

hurdler Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today ...

and sprinter specializing in the 400 m and 400 m hurdles. He is the second fastest man in history in the 400 m hurdles with a personal best time of 46.17 s. He won a silver medal at his first

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

and won the 400 m hurdles race at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

. Benjamin also won silver medals and at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

and

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

in the men's 400 m hurdles, and gold medals in the relay in 2019 and 2021. In college, Benjamin ran for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

and then the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans (also Southern California Trojans) are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ...

, where in early 2018 he was part of the team that set the world best time in the indoor relay with a time of 3:00.77. At the time, his relay split time of 44.35 s was the fastest ever recorded in an indoor race. In June of the same year he also helped set the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

record in the same event but outdoors, and ran what was at the time the second fastest 400 m hurdles race of all time in 47.02 s.

Early life and career

Benjamin, from

Mount Vernon High School (New York) Mount Vernon High School (MVHS) is a public high school in the Chester Heights section of the City of Mount Vernon in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is part of the Mount Vernon City School District. The current Mount Vernon High ...

, just after completing his second year participated at the 2013 World Youth Championships held in

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; ; ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin, and Stalino, is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine located on the Kalmius River in Donetsk Oblast, which is currently occupied by Russia as the capita ...

, Ukraine. He wanted to run for the USA, since he was born in New York, but in Donetsk he represented

Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda is a Sovereign state, sovereign archipelagic country composed of Antigua, Barbuda, and List of islands of Antigua and Barbuda, numerous other small islands. Antigua and Barbuda has a total area of 440 km2 (170 sq mi), ...

in the

400 m hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, onc ...

. He won the 2015 New York Indoor State meet with a national-leading time of 33.17 in the 300 meters. He was a three-time

New York State Public High School Athletic Association The New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) is the governing body of interscholastic sports for most public schools in New York (state), New York outside New York City.http://www.nysphsaa.org/ ''nysphsaa.org'', accesse ...

champion in the 400 m hurdles. Benjamin won a silver medal in the 400 meters at the 2015 CARIFTA Games. He was the 2015 New Balance 400-meter hurdles national champion. He ran the fastest 2015 prep time in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in the 400 m hurdles with a time of 49.97, fastest 400 m indoor time in the country with a 46.59 and the third fastest outdoor time 46.19. In 2017, the

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

suspended all transfers of allegiance, meaning Benjamin could not represent the United States until transfers were reinstated in summer 2018. In October 2018, Benjamin's transfer request was approved, allowing him to represent the United States abroad and compete in USATF Championship events. At the 2018

Meeting Areva Meeting de Paris (formerly known as the Meeting Areva and Meeting Gaz de France) is an annual track and field meeting at the Stade Sébastien Charléty in Paris, France. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Dia ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, he ran 19.99 in the 200 meters to take .65 of a second off his previous personal best. He became the 72nd person to break 20 seconds, in what is perhaps his third best event on the track. At the 2019 Mt. SAC Relays, that year at

El Camino College El Camino College (Elco or ECC) is a public community college in Los Angeles County, California. Most of it is in Alondra Park,Torrance, California Torrance is a coastal city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the metropolitan ...

, Benjamin joined his training partner and previous college teammate, Michael Norman running the 400 meters. Benjamin ran his personal best of 44.31, the 50th best time in history behind Norman's 43.45, which turned out to be the fastest 400 run in the 2019 season and tied him as the 4th fastest of all time.

Personal life

Benjamin is the son of

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

international and Antiguan

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

Winston Benjamin Winston Keithroy Matthew Benjamin (born 31 December 1964) is a former Antiguan cricketer who played 21 Tests and 85 One Day Internationals for the West Indies. He is the father of Olympic gold medalist hurdler Rai Benjamin. Domestic career Benj ...

. He co-hosts a podcast called "Beyond the Records" with

Noah Lyles Noah Lyles (born July 18, 1997) is an American track and field Sprint (running), sprinter who competes in the 60 meters, 100 metres, 100 meters and 200 metres, 200 meters events. His personal best of 19.31 seconds in the 200 m is the List of Un ...

and

Grant Holloway Stanley Grant Holloway (born November 19, 1997) is an American professional Hurdling, hurdler and Sprint (running), sprinter. He is a Athletics at the 2024 Summer Olympics, 2024 Paris Olympic gold medalist in the 110 metres hurdles, 110 meters ...

, which launched in December 2024. Benjamin is an avid cyclist, frequently cycling around Los Angeles and to and from hurdling practice at UCLA.

Achievements

Information from

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

profile unless otherwise noted.

Personal bests

International competitions

Circuit wins

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fifteen invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics one-day meet competitions. The inaugural season was ...

(400 m hurdles) **

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

: 2021, 2023 **

Eugene Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Gene Eugene, stage name of Canadian born actor, record producer, engineer, composer and musi ...

: 2023 **

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

: 2024 **Stockholm: 2025 * World Indoor Tour **

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

: 2019, 2025 (300 m)

National championships

*NCAA results from Track & Field Results Reporting System.

Seasonal bests

College career

Benjamin is a three-time

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

track champion. As a college student-athlete, Benjamin earned three

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

conference titles, one

Mountain Pacific Sports Federation The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) is a college athletic conference with members located mostly in the Western United States, although it has added members as far east as Massachusetts. The conference participates at the NCAA Divisio ...

title, and eight

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors (five outdoor, three indoor). Benjamin's All-America honors were for these accomplishments: * 2016 indoor, as part of a seventh-place team finish in the indoors

distance medley relay The distance medley relay (DMR) is an athletic event in which four athletes compete as part of a relay. With its inclusion in the IAAF World Relays program, the IAAF announced on May 1, 2015 that the event would be an official world record event ...

, with a time of 9:34.9. * 2016 outdoor, for a sixth-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles in 49.82. * 2017 outdoor, for a second-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles in 48.33, and as part of a team finish of 39.89 in the

4 × 100 m 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. Evolution of the Hi ...

relay. * 2018 indoor, for a third-place finish in the

200 m The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a Sprint (running), sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run th ...

, and as part of a team that set a college indoor track record of 3:00.77 in the

4 × 400 m relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. Evolution of the Hi ...

. * 2018 outdoor, as part of a team that won the 4 × 400 m relay in 2:59.00, and for a college record time of 47.02 in the

. His time equalled

Edwin Moses Edwin Corley Moses (born August 31, 1955) is an Americans, American former Hurdling, hurdler who won gold medals in the 400 metres hurdles, 400 m hurdles at the 1976 Summer Olympics, 1976 and 1984 Summer Olympics, 1984 Olympics. Between 1977 an ...

's for the second fastest time in history.

Notes

References

External links

*
Rai Benjamin
at

Rai Benjamin
at

* * * *
Rai Benjamin
at the

Paris 2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

Videos

Michael Norman and Rai Benjamin at Mt SAC Relays 2019
via MyStyle Records on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

Michael Norman 19.84 Wins Men's 200m – IAAF Diamond League Paris 2018
via

IAAF Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fifteen invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics one-day meet competitions. The inaugural season was ...

(Rai Benjamin 2nd in 19.99) {{DEFAULTSORT:Benjamin, Rai 1997 births Living people American male hurdlers American male sprinters African-American track and field athletes Sportspeople from Mount Vernon, New York Track and field athletes from Westchester County, New York United States collegiate record holders in athletics (track and field) UCLA Bruins men's track and field athletes USC Trojans men's track and field athletes World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships winners USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics 21st-century African-American sportsmen Mount Vernon High School (New York) alumni Diamond League winners NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships winners American people of Antigua and Barbuda descent 21st-century American sportsmen