"It's not just one guy running fast, it's a whole group" - Alison dos Santos on strong 400mH lineup including himself, Rai Benjamin & Karsten Warholm
Alison dos Santos recently spoke about the intense competition among athletes, including himself, Rai Benjamin, Karsten Warholm, and others, in the 400m hurdles event. All the athletes are set to clash in an exciting contest at the 2024 Paris Olympics, which is less than a month to go.
Presently, Benjamin Rai is the world-leading performer in the 2024 season, clocking a time of 46.46s. Meanwhile, Santos and Warholm are not too far behind, with times of 46.63s and 46.70s.
Ahead of his 400m hurdles event at the Paris Diamond League, Alison dos Santos opened up about the unpredictable nature of the event and expressed admiration for the current level of competition. He stated:
“There's beauty in what you're doing right now because it's really, really tough. It's not just one guy running fast, like it's a whole group. So that's exciting like you are able to watch event are going to be like Karsten, Benjamin, a bunch of guys, you don't know who is going to win. We don't know how fast we can be.”
He added:
“So, I think that's exciting, you know that you can just be there and have fun watching the whole race because you're going to be really thinking the whole time, like 100, 200, 300, 400, who is going to win? Who is going to be the best one? Because we are all in good shape, we are all doing great things.”
All three athletes have gained prominence in track and field, owing to their extraordinary achievements in the 400m hurdles. In the World Athletics Championships, Warholm clinched titles in 2023, 2019, and 2017 in the 400m hurdles, while Santos secured his title in 2022. Meanwhile, Benjamin has earned two silver medals in the event.
A look into the Tokyo Olympics finals’ performance ft. Rai Benjamin, Karsten Warholm & Alison dos Santos
Rai Benjamin, Karsten Warholm, and Alison dos Santos all competed in the finals of the 400m hurdles at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. However, it was Warholm who became the Olympic champion with a remarkable world record performance of 45.94s.
Benjamin took home the silver medal with an impressive time of 46.17s, while Santos bagged the bronze, clocking a time of 46.72s in the finals.
Rai Benjamin’s Tokyo Olympics campaign ended with another medal in the form of gold as he was a crucial member of the USA’s men’s 4x400m relay race that achieved a timing of 2:55.70, to finish ahead of the Netherlands and Botswana.