RAI BENJAMIN suffered the heartbreaking news that he had been disqualified from the final of the men’s 400 metres hurdles – before he was dramatically reinstated to the gold medal spot.
On night seven of the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, the American athlete, 28, crossed the line first in a season’s best time of 46.52 seconds.
ReutersRai Benjamin was disqualified as he wore a crown after winning the 400m hurdles[/caption]
He removed the crown after discovering he’d lost the gold medal
The USA star knocked over a hurdle at the World Athletics Championship
AFPThe hurdle edged ever so slightly to the right[/caption]
ReutersHis hurdle was judged to have impacted on another runner’s lane[/caption]
Brazilian Alison dos Santos, the 2022 world champion, took silver in 46.84 seconds while Qatari Abderrahman Samba claimed bronze in 47.06 seconds.
Understandably, the New Yorker celebrated the victory in the National Stadium, donning a golden crown and posing for photos with countrywoman Jasmine Jones, who won silver in the women’s race behind Dutchwoman Femke Bol.
Yet the Paris 2024 Olympic champion was soon stopped in his tracks and told by World Athletics officials that he was going to be booted out of the one-lap race.
Eagle-eyed officials noticed that as he knocked down his final barrier, it dislodged the final hurdle of Nigerian rival Ezekiel Nathaniel, who was running in an inside lane.
It is against the rules to impede the progress of another opponent and it was decided he should be disqualified from the showdown.
The incident did appear to have interrupted the stride pattern of African runner Nathaniel who came fourth in a national record of 47.11 seconds.
The United States team launched an immediate appeal and then it was announced by World Athletics that he would not be disqualified – and his time would stand.
Before news filtered through that he would be allowed to keep his gold medal and the gold crown, there was uproar within the athletics community.
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Andrew Cotter, the BBC TV athletics commentator, said: “It does affect Nathaniel. Wow. I have little doubt the Americans will appeal that.
“Now, he’s taken off his crown. He’s the guy who has just remembered he’s got his Chrstmas party hat on and it’s January 20. That’s awful, that’s awful. There will be an appeal.
ReutersBenjamin had his gold medal reinstated after an appeal[/caption]
Benjamin celebrated with teammate Jasmine Jones, who took silver in the women’s hurdlesSportsfile
“From all that joy and celebrations of getting the world title for the first time, and then finding out it’s been taken away. What a costly hit.”
BBC lead broadcaster Steve Cram, the 1983 world champion over 1500 metres, said: “If you knock a hurdle down, you don’t do that on purpose. It did dislodge.
“Well, he could argue that those hurdles weren’t put out properly.”
Jessica Ennis-Hill, the London 2012 Olympic heptathlon champion, said: “For me, that seems completely insane.
“He hit the barrier, he didn’t hit it on purpose. It didn’t affect the standing of the race at the end of the day. I feel it’s very unfair if he is going to lose his world title.
“He is fatigued at the end of the race. His leg dislodged the hurdles beside him. The athlete, whose hurdle is affected, still clears the hurdle.
“For me, it seems very unfair that he would have his title taken away from him for that mistake. The USA will appeal this.
“Heart-wrenching for him to be celebrating and then to find out that title may be gone.”
Speaking to NBC afterwards, Benjamin said: “We were sitting down by the elimination chairs ironically and Dos Santos said they were reviewing the race and I might be disqualified. I was like ‘wait, how? did I step on the line?’.
“They said it might have been because of the last hurdle. But when fatigue sets in, those hurdles get really high.
“I think the issue was just making sure I made an honest attempt to actually clear the hurdle. That was all grit and fighting for my life coming home so that’s what the holdup was about.
“It feels great, a complete reverse to what happened in 2021 without the world record. I’m happy I came out here and got the job done.
“I got another major championship individually under my belt so I can sleep well tonight ahead of the 4×400 on Sunday.”
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