American hurdler and sprinter Rai Benjamin has set his eyes on the 400m hurdles goal after describing the 300m hurdles in Oslo Diamond League as a test run.
In his first race of the year, the American star took on a rarely contested distance and finished second behind Karsten Warholm, who set a blistering world record of 32.67 seconds on home soil. Benjamin clocked 33.02, an American best but seemed surprised when informed of the milestone.
“Oh, really? Didn’t know that. Now I know,” Rai Benjamin said with a chuckle during his post-race interview.
Despite the historic mark, the 26-year-old was quick to downplay the result. “Different race, should have run a different strategy,” he admitted. “But I felt confident, I felt good, so I went for it. Just a little rusty, first one of the year so I can’t be too mad.”
With the World Championships on the horizon, Benjamin made it clear his focus remains on the 400m hurdles. This is the event where he’s a perennial medal contender. “We’re not running a 300m hurdles at Worlds,” he noted. “So we prepped more for the 400 this year than the 300.”
The Oslo race marked Benjamin’s first visit to the Norwegian capital, and though jet lag and travel fatigue lingered, he saw the meet as a necessary step to kickstart his season.
“This first half is about racing, getting things wrong so that we fix it,” he said. “I was just getting a little bored at home, so I had to come over here.”
Benjamin now looks ahead to his first 400m hurdles race of the year this Sunday in Stockholm . He is confident that lessons from Oslo will pay off when it truly matters