As expected, Team USA has been raking in the medals at the Tokyo World Athletics Championships. Though Sha’Carri Richardson lost her 100m world title, she did so to compatriot Melissa Jefferson-Wooden. Then there’s Ryan Crouser, who came out of 9 months of hibernation only to win the gold once again. The list goes on. But there have been disappointments as well. Noah Lyles losing that 100m world title will definitely sting, and that too to the USA’s track rival, the Jamaicans. Olympic gold medalist and 100m hurdles favorite Masai Russell missed the podium as she finished fourth in 12.44s. And they almost lost another medal in the 400m hurdles with Rai Benjamins’ DQ. Here’s what happened-

Rai Benjamin, was determined to take no risks in the finals of the 400m hurdles at the World Athletics Championships. The hurdler accelerated and took the lead from the very first curve of the race. Did it work? Perfectly, he was the first one to cross the finish line in 46.52 seconds. But just as Benjamin was celebrating being crowned the 400m hurdles world champion, he was disqualified. What went down?

As Benjamin went on to jump over the last hurdle of the race, his leg touched it, and the hurdle fell. So why was that an issue? Well, as per the “World Athletics Technical Rule 22.6.3,” Benjamin was DQ’d for knocking down a hurdle, thus impacting another athlete. When Benjamin hit hurdle 10, it bumped and displaced Ezekiel Nathaniel’s final hurdle in lane 6. The Nigerian eventually finished in 4th place in 47.11s. And while Rai Benjamin was out there soaking in his victory, the results on the official list showed him sitting at the bottom with a DQ. Alison Dos Santos was then momentarily promoted to the first spot, Abderrahman Samba to the second, and Ezekiel Nathaniel to the third position.

However, USATF was quick to appeal the DQ. Soon, news broke out that the appeal was accepted, as Benjamin hadn’t, in fact, moved out of his line when Nathaniel’s barrier was affected. That’s when the official list changed once again, and Benjamin was reinstated as the 400m hurdles world champion, with a season-best time. Alison Dos Santos followed in second with 46.84 seconds, and Samba was third with 47.06. Ezekiel had to go back to being off the podium with a fourth, but he spoke out in the mixed zone about how he felt over this incident.

After the race, the Niegran runner was asked about Benjamin hitting the hurdles, to which he said, “I mean, he hit the hurdles, but that didn’t actually affect me a lot. So I just tried to knock that down.” No problems from the referee, no hard feelings from the athlete who was affected. In fact, Ezekiel also said, “Yeah, it’s fair” when asked about the decision being overturned. Rai Bejnamin truly deserves that crown he donned after winning the race and becoming the World Champion. The DQ was a sad moment because not only did it affect him, but also the US track and field fans who had been disappointed after Cole Hokcer’s DQ. What did Rai have to say about the race?

Rai Benjamin gets honest about his hurdle mishap

“So, yeah, crazy one to be honest with you…real roller coaster out there. I mean, what’s a world championship without a little bit of drama?” said the 400m hurdles world champion, giving his honest reaction over the race in the mixed zone. He first learned about the disqualification while sitting in the elimination chairs, when Samba and Dos Santos mentioned it, and then the dread of it donned on him.

He said, “Then the whole shift happened, and you know, I was just trying to control my emotions down there because you worked so hard to get here and make this team and go through an entire season, and you finally win, and now that you’re getting DQed because of hurdle 10.” Benjamin had been clocking sub-48s throughout the season, including two sub-47s as well; he deserved that win. Speaking of the hurdle mishap, he said that he did make an honest attempt to clear it, but “it gets really tough and running that fast through eight um, was um, it was bound to happen.” Also, he did not know how him hitting his hurdle affected any other athlete.

It was only the reporters who told him how his hitting the hurdle moved Ezekiel Nathaniel’s by a few inches. They also told him about how the Negiran felt bad for Benjamin because of the DQ. A very serious look did over Benjamin’s face. “I was just running my race and trying to get over that hurdle, and I mean it wasn’t intentional obviously. But yeah, that’s on me. Like I should be clean over 10. Like I never ever have that that of a mishap um coming home like that, but like I said, just running that fast and not putting yourself in that position throughout the season um it’s bound to happen with that lock tick and running that fast,” he responded. What are your thoughts on this entire DQ situation?