My Take
Rai Benjamin is genuinely one of the most exciting track athletes of his generation, and I feel like he doesn't get nearly enough mainstream attention considering what he's accomplished. Growing up in Mount Vernon, New York and running at USC, he built himself into a 400m hurdles beast — and then at the 2024 Paris Olympics he finally got the gold that had eluded him in Tokyo, where he ran a heartbreaking silver despite going under the world record pace. His personal best of 46.17 seconds makes him the second fastest man ever in the event, and he's stacked up seven World Championships medals on top of that. There's something almost unfairly talented about watching him negotiate the hurdles with that combination of raw speed and technical precision. Track fans know exactly who he is; the rest of the world is just catching up.
Overview
Rai Benjamin (born July 27, 1997) is an American hurdler and sprinter specializing in the 400 m and 400 m hurdles. He is the second fastest man in history in the 400 m hurdles with a personal best time of 46.17 s. He won a silver medal at his first Olympic Games in 2021 and won the 400 m hurdles race at the 2024 Summer Olympics. Benjamin also has seven World Championships medals, including three gold.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Rai Benjamin
- Name (Japanese)
- ライ・ベンジャミン
- Reading
- らい・べんじゃみん
- Born
- July 27, 1997 (age 28)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Leo / Ox
- Origin
- Mount Vernon, New York, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- athletics competitor
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- University of Southern California
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.