After good start, former Mount Vernon star Rai Benjamin wins bronze at World Championships

Rai Benjamin's quest for world gold will continue.

The 2015 Mount Vernon High graduate, who owns the second fastest time ever run in the men's 400-meter hurdles, came up short Wednesday at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in his bid to both beat world record-holder Karsten Warholm of Norway and to win a world title. Benjamin came in third in the 400-meter hurdles.

Benjamin, the silver medalist in the hurdles at the Tokyo Olympics and a two-time silver medalist in the event at the World Championships, suffered one of his most frustrating days on the track in what has been a largely frustrating year for him.

Wednesday's hurdles final had drawn large international focus due to its elite field and the rivalry that has developed between the 26-year-old Benjamin and 27-year-old Warholm, whose races can in some ways be viewed through an Ali-vs.-Frazier lens.

But while Warholm won, the race didn't play out as anticipated.

Benjamin, who'd looked strong and comfortable while winning both his initial and semifinal heats, pulled alongside Warholm late in the final but faded meters before the finish and was overtaken for second by Kyron McMaster of the Virgin Islands.

McMaster had finished fourth at the Tokyo Olympics, where both Warholm and Benjamin broke Warholm's world record but Warholm claimed gold in a blistering 45.94 and Benjamin won silver in 46.17.

None of them approached those times in Budapest.

Warholm, whose victory gave him his third world championship in the 400 hurdles, won in 46.89. McMaster crossed in 47.34 and Benjamin, who'd run 47.24 to win his semifinal heat but last month captured the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships title in 46.62, finished in 47.56.

After the race, which finished just before 10 p.m. Budapest time, Benjamin mentioned 2023 being a very tough year due to a lingering quad injury and other problems.

Answering reporters' questions post-race on video shared on YouTube, Benjamin, who gained All-American honors eight times while competing collegiately for UCLA and the University of Southern California, seemed at a loss to explain his performance.

Saying, "I expected so much of myself at this meet," he sadly quipped he could run 46 seconds with his eyes closed.

Benjamin alluded to but wouldn't blame a quad injury that kept him largely sidelined in May and June, part of a year that saw upheaval with the loss of his USC and Nike training partner, Michael Norman, who switched coaches.

"I just really don't know what happened out there. ... It was one of those things where you try to will yourself to do something and it just wasn't happening today," Benjamin said.

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Benjamin, who won Olympic gold two years ago in Tokyo, anchoring the U.S. men's 4x400 relay team, which also included Norman, had come back from injury and illness last year to win silver at Worlds. In that race, he beat a returning-from-injury Warholm, who finished well back. But that win went to Tokyo bronze medalist Alison dos Santos of Brazil, who, on the mend from knee surgery, was fifth Wednesday.

Benjamin, who noted his ability to medal "through adversity," indicated he'd need time to digest and analyze his latest race, but training and competing will continue.

"I'm just going to keep showing up. That's the best I can do," he said.

Of the 2024 Olympics, which will be held next summer in Paris, France, Benjamin seemed optimistic but cautiously so, remarking, "Next year is my year. ... Who knows."

Nancy Haggerty covers cross-country, track & field, field hockey, skiing, ice hockey, basketball, girls lacrosse and other sporting events for The Journal News/lohud. Follow her on Twitter at @HaggertyNancy.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Rai Benjamin takes bronze at World Championships