Rai Benjamin

Rai Benjamin is a professional athlete who specializes in hurdling and sprinting, particularly in the 400m hurdles and 400m sprint. He holds the title of the second fastest man in history in the 400m hurdles, with a personal best time of 46.17s, a record achieved in Tokyo in 2021. In the 2024 Summer Olympics, Benjamin championed the 400m hurdles race, securing a gold medal. Moreover, he holds personal bests in 400m: 44.21 (Los Angeles, 2023), 200m: 19.99 (Paris, 2018), and 100m: 10.03 (Fort Worth, 2020).

Benjamin's athletic career was ignited in college where he represented the UCLA Bruins before joining the USC Trojans. There, he was part of the team that set the world's best time in the indoor 4x400m relay in 2018, with Benjamin's relay split time of 44.35s being the fastest ever recorded at the time. He also set a college indoor track record of 3:00.77 in the 4x400m relay and helped set the NCAA record in the same event outdoors in 2018. These achievements paved the way for his recognition as a three-time NCAA Division I track champion and his earning of three Pac-12 conference titles and one Mountain Pacific Sports Federation title. Benjamin's college career also saw him receive eight NCAA Division I All-America honors, five outdoor and three indoor.

Since his college days, Benjamin's career has continued to ascend. He won silver medals in the 400m hurdles at the Olympic Games in 2021 and the World Championships in 2019 and 2022. Benjamin added to his collection of gold medals in the 4x400m relay in 2019 and 2021 while also achieving top performance at the 2020 Summer Olympics, securing both gold and silver medals for the United States in the track and field category. His time of 47.02 in the 400m hurdles equaled Edwin Moses's for the second-fastest time in history. Benjamin has also garnered victories in the 400m hurdles at the USATF Championships in 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023 and at the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2021 and 2024. He also holds the world-leading time in the 400m hurdles in 2024, with a time of 46.46 seconds.