Photo: Erik van Leeuwen / CC BY 4.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
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.
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
- Occupation
- athletics competitor
2. Background
- University
- University of Southern California
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Frequently asked questions
When was Rai Benjamin born?
Born July 27, 1997 (age 28).
Where is Rai Benjamin from?
Rai Benjamin is from Mount Vernon, New York, United States.
What does Rai Benjamin do?
Rai Benjamin works as athletics competitor.
Athletics competitor — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.