Article author:
Reuters
Eugene — Rai Benjamin may have been the toughest time he has ever run, but the Olympic silver medalist won the men's 400-meter hurdles at the US Championships on Sunday.
COVID and tendonitis have prevented Americans from practicing over hurdles since May, he said after winning in 47.04 seconds.
Victory founded Benjamin in July on the same University of Oregon track for a World Championship showdown against Norwegian world record holder Karlstenwarholm.
He was also able to run a round on the American 4x400m relay.
However, it took a lot of effort on Sunday to get there.
In a strange race, Benjamin fired early, and after the onset of tendinitis, he was far behind and gathered to win.
"I wasn't used to the literary pace, so I had to chop it into two (the second hurdle) a bit and the tendonitis recurred," he said. "I wasn't very confident, but I fought and reorganized.
" My idea was just to go home. "
He did, Runner I comfortably beat the up Trevor Basit. (Report by Gene Cherry, Eugene, Oregon, edited by Stephen Coates)
