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EUGENE, OREGON – JUNE 26: Rai Benjamin celebrates after the Men’s 400 Meters Hurdles Finals on day nine of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 26, 2021 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
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EUGENE, OREGON – JUNE 26: Rai Benjamin celebrates after the Men’s 400 Meters Hurdles Finals on day nine of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 26, 2021 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
People often find that some sports are deemed more prestigious than others. And in a sport, too, some events gain more prominence than others. Such a question has been troubling hurdler Rai Benjamin for some time. And the athlete finally asked the question to his fans and followers.
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The hurdler took to Twitter recently to ask his followers about their opinions on the subject. And they had some interesting answers to the question.
What did Rai Benjamin tweet about?
The question bugging Benjamin was about his sport. However, it holds true for a few other sports as well, including sprinting and swimming events. Every athlete and sports enthusiast must have pondered this question at some point in time.
However, the two-time Olympian put his thoughts into words when he tweeted to his followers asking their opinion on the matter. The concern the hurdler had was regarding the reason there is a blatant disregard for relay events among athletes and sports fans.
Why do we downplay relay medals?
— Rai Benjamin (@_Kingben_) July 8, 2022
Benjamin?s tweet read,??Why do we downplay relay medals??.?Following the tweet, fans and followers of the athlete swarmed his account on the social media platform to share their views and opinions. The tweet has garnered over 1,000 likes on the social media site.
Opinions and thoughts on relay races had users divided. While some thought that relay medals should hold equal significance for an athlete, others were not too sure about it. Some felt that individual events weighed more than relays because team members distributed the effort among themselves in relay events.
How did Benjamin’s followers and fans react?
According to some, relays differed from individual events as one athlete had to put in all the effort during individual races. However, it is just one of the rationale put forward among various others who defended that medals in the individual category carried more value to an athlete. Let’s check some of the reasoning put forward by users.
Cos having Relay medals is dependent on the country you come from and not on your individual abilities as an athlete. Allyson Felix wouldn’t have all those gold medals if she was from Sri Lanka lol https://t.co/AnMvEI8o8N
— Love, Jacob❤️ (@Bartier_MrJ) July 10, 2022
I am the opposite. Relay races are my favorite. I have also run quite many in college.
I would love to watch you both at 4×400 and mixed relays.Side note: @_Kingben_ is also my favorite for 400mH this year in Oregon. https://t.co/ezhXHlhUQF
— Skorer Szymański (@Ardagulerfanclb) July 9, 2022
They're important but it really depends on what's being discussed/measured – relay medals are primarily a measure of a country's depth and should never be conflated with individual medals https://t.co/neO087wmYv
— EA (@EliteAthleticsV) July 9, 2022
https://twitter.com/demzgunner/status/1545590941678960641
I feel they aren’t downplayed collegiately because they are crucial for winning team championships. Since there aren’t really team championships professionally, people dont see the value which sucks. Idc if you ran individually or on a relay, if you made it im scared of you 😂 https://t.co/y19bXkRcPC
— Katelyn Hutchison ✨ (@kxnaomi) July 8, 2022
I don’t think anybody downplays them, but individual medals tend to mean more to athletes. EG, Jason Lezak said his proudest achievement was the individual bronze medal he won in 2008, yet he’s known for that last relay leg which snatched gold from France.
— Gerard O'Reilly (@GerardOReilly1) July 9, 2022
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Which school of thought do you belong to? Do you think that all medals irrespective of the category hold the same value?
Written by
Edited by
Simar Singh Wadhwa