Paris (AFP) – Rai Benjamin finally claimed a maiden global title after three previous silver medals and a bronze, defeating old rival Karsten Warholm in the Olympic 400m hurdles final. Five years after first being beaten into second by Warholm in the 2019 world championship final, the American belatedly snared his prey on Friday. The amiable 27-year-old son of former West Indian cricketer Winston Benjamin laid to rest his image as a perennial bridesmaid, breaking Warholm’s psychological hold over him in major finals.
Benjamin had been the runner-up to Warholm on three major occasions: in the 2019 and 2023 world championships, then running the race of his life to break the previous world record in the Tokyo Olympics, only to finish behind the Norwegian. Benjamin, who switched allegiance from Antigua and Barbuda to the United States prior to the 2019 world championships, had long accepted that his life would not be smooth. “The grass is never greener,” he told Olympic.com last year. “No matter how prepared you are, there’s always something that’s going to pop up and it’s how you deal with those bumps in the road that define you as an athlete.”
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The political science graduate, born in New York, dedicates much of his success to his mother, Jeanette Mason, who raised him as a single mum after they returned from a spell in Antigua. “My mum has been there every step of the way,” he said. Mason noted that she could see early on that her son could be something special. “You speak life into your child – dreams, aspirations,” she told Rockland/Westchester News in July. However, she admitted that at one point she worried about him. “I honestly thought he had ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). I was always praying there’d be something he could put his energy into.”
It was never going to be cricket, despite finding legendary West Indian batsman Brian Lara “hypnotic to watch.” As his father remarked, Benjamin was “absolutely crappy” at playing it.
Instead, he took to the track, which has brought him a “comfortable” lifestyle. That includes a Lamborghini and a bicycle he dubs the ‘Ferrari’ of bikes. However, Benjamin still plays down the significance of what he does for a living. “I just run and go home,” he told Rockland/Westchester News. “I’m not doing anything super important. I’m not saving lives. I just run in circles for people’s enjoyment. I’m not putting my life at risk at all. It’s entertainment.”
Benjamin follows a strict routine before races, often listening to the soundtrack from the film ‘Interstellar.’ “Specifically, the ‘Interstellar’ soundtrack,” he told KSL Sport in July. “You walk out, you’re on the track, and all my senses get higher. I smell better. I see better. The gun goes off, and that’s where the magic starts.”
When the season is over, Benjamin likes to take to the roads where he lives in California to ride his bike. Despite the danger of a possible accident, he got permission from his coach to buy the bike. “I wanted to challenge myself down a different alley, get away from the running,” he told Citiusmag last December. “Whenever people ask me what I do outside of track, like, do I do anything for fun? My answer was always ‘No, not really…I get home and play (‘Call of Duty’ video game) ‘War Zone.’ After a while it gets kind of weird telling other people that I just go home and play video games.”
Time will tell whether his long-awaited triumph propels Benjamin into a period of dominance, but he can always fall back on his mantra. “I always say, chase excellence, chase perfection — and if you fall, you fall into success.”
© 2024 AFP
