Rai Benjamin is not worried about losing to Karsten Warholm in 300m hurdles

Rai Benjamin was defeated by longtime rival Karsten Warholm in his first outdoor race of the season in Norway. The Olympic 400m hurdles champion explained why he wasn’t too bothered by his early season loss to the Norwegian at the Diamond League in Oslo.

The highly anticipated race lived up to expectations, with Karsten Warholm running an all-time world’s best of 32.67 sec to claim victory. Rai Benjamin followed closely with a personal best of 33.22 sec to finish second, while Olympic bronze medallist Alison dos Santos took the bronze with 33.88 sec.

Karsten Warholm led from the start, but Rai Benjamin seemed to take control of the turn. Moments later, Karsten Warholm came back with his signature final sprint to overtake the American in the final stretch.

In an interview after the race, Rai Benjamin analyzed what went wrong and why he remains confident going forward.

“I probably should have run a different strategy, but I felt confident – I felt good, so I gave it a go,” Benjamin said. “It’s just the first race of the year and I’m a little rusty, so I can’t be too upset. Of course, you always want to go out and win, but this was about getting moving. We have more races on the schedule, so this is just the beginning”, said Rai Benjamin. He stressed that while the 300m steeplechase was a competitive challenge, it wasn’t a priority this season. “I think I just had to get the feel for it. We prepared for it, but not too much because it’s not our main focus this year. At the World Championships we won’t be running the 300m hurdles – it’s all about the 400m hurdles. So most of our preparation is focused on that”, added he.

Despite the loss, Rai Benjamin confirmed that the start of the season is about fine-tuning and staying in shape ahead of the World Championships.

“I’m definitely going to keep competing. There’s plenty of time between the Diamond League final and the start of the World Championships, so I don’t want to sit around too long. We’re staying flexible with the schedule, making sure everything is planned in a way that keeps me healthy and ensures I’m in peak shape at the right time. The first half of the season is about competing, making mistakes and learning from them so we can fix things early. My first 400m hurdles race is on Sunday and, to be honest, I was just a bit bored at home – so I had to get out there and compete”, finished Rai Benjamin.