PARIS, France — American Rai Benjamin won gold and defeated Norwegian world-record holder Karsten Warholm in the men's 400-meter hurdles at the Paris Olympics.
It was predicted to be an extremely tight race between the two favorites. Warholm was the reigning gold medalist and world record-holder, but Benjamin had posted the fastest time in the race this year.
Alison dos Santos, the Brazilian who beat Warholm on his home track just over a month ago, finished third.
As Benjamin ran to victory, Warholm seemed to falter on one of the last hurdles.
The trio seem to bring out the best in each other. That was on display at the Tokyo Games in 2021, when Warholm broke his own world record to win gold and Benjamin took silver.