- American Olympian Rai Benjamin is one of the fastest hurdlers on the planet and will compete for the gold medal in the men’s 400m this Summer in Tokyo.
- Current odds have Benjamin with the second-shortest odds to win gold in the event at +175, trailing only Karsten Warholm of Norway at -230.
TOKYO - Less than two weeks away from the Tokyo Olympics, 23-year-old American hurdler and sprinter Rai Benjamin is preparing for the race of his life.
Benjamin is already a world champion hurdler who holds multiple records across different competitions. However, as with many top-level athletes, nothing would compare to an Olympic gold medal.
Benjamin nearly broke the record in the Men’s 400m hurdle in Oregon just a week ago, and would have loved nothing more than to eclipse the record that has been standing since 1992 at the Olympics.
However, current Olympic odds have Benjamin as the second shortest pick behind Karsten Warholm of Norway.
Men’s 400m Hurdles - Gold Medal Winner
- Karsten Warholm (NOR) -230
- Rai Benjamin (USA) +175
- Alison Dos Santos (BRA) +1400
- Abderrahman Samba (QAT) +1400
- Kyron McMaster (IVB) +2900
- Yasmani Copello (TUR) +4400
Benjamin easily won against his competition at the Olympic Trials this past week, beating his next closest opponent by a full second.
Benjamin’s run was just 0.05 seconds off of the world record held at the time by Kevin Young.
Benjamin has been preparing for this moment since his early college days at UCLA. Interestingly enough, Benjamin transferred from UCLA to rival USC during his college career, breaking hurdling records all along the way.
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⏱ 47.13 = WL
Rai Benjamin wins the men's 400m hurdles with a world leading time of 47.13.@_Kingben_ @usatf // #JourneyToGold pic.twitter.com/P6Cklw8zRP
— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) May 9, 2021
Unfortunately for Benjamin, he happens to be competing at the same time as another world-class athlete in his sport. Norwegian Karsten Warholm managed to actually break Young’s longstanding record just two weeks ago at the Diamond League meeting in Oslo.
Warholm and Benjamin will do battle on the track and on the Olympic sportsbooks in Tokyo to decide who is the true fastest man in hurdling.
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Jimmy Reinman honed his skills across various mediums including print, radio, and broadcast before bringing his arsenal of knowledge to the team here at USAOnlineSportsbooks in 2020. When he’s not writing, you can find him in a state of focused stress on any College Football Saturday, or maniacally constructing NBA parlays on a cool spring evening.