Benjamin Won, Lost, Then Won Again In Tokyo

Rai Benjaminâ€s post-victory mood was as light as his crown. Soon, for a few fraught minutes, heavy was the head that wore the costume headgear. (KIRBY LEE/IMAGE OF SPORT)

EVERY ATHLETE at some point experiences both the thrill of victory and agony of defeat. But theyâ€re not supposed to feel both in the same race.

Rai Benjamin ran a (mostly) masterful race in Tokyo to claim his first world championship. Like at the Paris Olympics, he turned back his friendly nemesis, Karsten Warholm, and clocked 46.52, the =No. 9 all-time performance. He donned a golden toy crown and began his celebration.

Then things went south. He was informed that he had been disqualified. The only flaw in his race had been a hard hit on hurdle 10, which slightly dislodged the barrier in the adjacent lane, occupied by Nigeriaâ€s Nathaniel Ezekiel.

For 15 uncertain minutes, Benjamin went through a ringer of emotions. However, quick action by USATF got the DQ overturned, and he could keep the crown on his head and place the gold medal around his neck.

“I won, and then I didnâ€t win, and then I won again, so I won twice tonight,†laughed a relieved Benjamin.

“Whatâ€s a World Championship without a little drama?†he asked rhetorically. “So, ironically, weâ€re [sitting] in the elimination chairs and [Qatarâ€s 3rd-placer Abderrahmane] Samba goes like, ‘Where are our medals?†And [Brazilâ€s 2nd-placer Alison] dos Santos was like, ‘I think thereâ€s been a DQ.†And I was like, ‘Oh, damn, who got the DQ?†And he goes, ‘I think it might be you.†And I was like, ‘What?!â€â€

In the stomach-churning roller coaster of the moment, Benjamin had to dig down and find the same kind of discipline he puts into his training.

“I still had [the crown] on, and I took it off. And then I was like, ‘Man, get that camera out of my face.â€

“But then I was like, ‘You gotta chill,†because Iâ€m not out here just representing myself, Iâ€m representing the entire United States and my family and this whole team, so I just had to keep my emotions in check and just really figure out what was going on. Thereâ€s nothing much I could do at that point but just wait for the officials. Obviously, it really sucked to lose that way in a DQ after running 10 hurdles, but Iâ€m happy that I was able to show some restraint down there and some self-control.â€

Difficulty maintaining control was what got him into the predicament. Benjamin admitted the clattering of the hurdle caught him by surprise.

“It wasnâ€t intentional, obviously, but thatâ€s on me. I should be clean over 10. I never, ever have that kind of a mishap coming home.

“Usually, I donâ€t really get a lot of lactic, but I was just so fast through hurdle 8 and 9. My body hasnâ€t been in that zone before, so itâ€s only natural that it goes through that whole process, but I was happy that I put enough daylight between me and everyone else so that I was able to recover from that mistake.â€

Recovering from mistakes sums up the whole shift his career has taken in the past two seasons.

From â€19 through â€23, Benjamin developed the reputation as the silver man, mostly to Warholm. The last time he was on this track, the â€21 Olympics, he was fit enough to run a stunning 46.17, which would have obliterated Warholmâ€s WR — except Warholm was faster. Even when Warholm was off his game in Eugene in â€22, dos Santos stepped up to block Benjamin from the top of the podium. In Budapest, he fell to bronze.

He could have been frozen by frustration. Instead, like the heroine of the movie Frozen, he decided to just let it go.

“I think my whole mentality shifted after â€23,†Benjamin says. “Going into Paris, I just stopped putting so much pressure on myself and focused on having fun and enjoying the sport, because I canâ€t do this for a long time. So the mentality was to just come out, have fun, and the same thing here. Itâ€s just been great, man. Iâ€ve been having fun and being loose and just enjoying every step of the way and not really taking myself too seriously here.â€

Next year, he plans to have even more fun.

“This is the most I raced all year, actually in my career. I wonâ€t ever do that again, because it was tough going to the USAs. Going to the Pre and USAs, like I was dealing with some quad issues from â€23, so I was able to quell that and come back and get some good work in and be able to come out here and win. It was just great.

“So I wonâ€t be racing too much next year, but I told Noah [Lyles], ‘You better watch out, because I am running the 2 next year. And the 4. No hurdles.â€â€ Surely, there are intriguing possibilities for updates to his 200 and 400 bests, 19.99 dating back to the Paris DL of â€18 and 44.21 from April of â€23. He anchored the Olympic Record USA relay victory in Paris in 43.18.

Is he going to try a Sydney?

“Sydney McLaughlin is the GOAT, man,†he laughed. “I canâ€t. But like I said, Iâ€m going to run the 2 and 4 next year and have some fun and shake things up.â€

Since 1986, Lee Nichols has been the Rockdale (Texas) High School record holder in the mile and 2-miles. He followed those feats with a brief and highly undistinguished tenure with the Texas Longhorns. He has been writing for Track & Field News since 2004. When he’s not writing about track, he’s either writing about or drinking craft beer and watching Tottenham Hotspur play soccer.

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