Rai Benjamin wins 400m hurdles, gets disqualified, then reinstated
There were a few moments of confusion and drama on Friday evening in Tokyo
Nick Iwanyshyn
It was a nerve-jangling evening in Tokyo in the men’s 400m hurdles final, but it all turned out OK in the end for the 2024 Olympic champion, Rai Benjamin, who dominated the race and took home world championship gold for the first time, in 46.52 seconds.
Benjamin’s win did not come without drama. A referee review showed Benjamin had knocked down the final hurdle on his way to the finish line, and in the process disturbed the hurdle in lane 6 next to him, violating World Athletics rule 22.6.3: knocking down or displacing a hurdle in another lane. The race referee made the judgment call, disqualifying Benjamin, on the basis that the knocked hurdle impeded Nigeria’s Ezekiel Nathaniel, who had finished just one spot off the podium.
Moments later, a video judge overruled the referee’s ruling when a replay showed that, while Benjamin’s falling hurdle moved the top right corner of Nathaniel’s hurdle, it did not impede Nathaniel or affect the outcome of the race, and on that basis, Benjamin was reinstated as the winner.
While it was a pretty good day at the office for silver medallist Alison Dos Santos (46.84) and a dream come true for third-place finisher Abderrahman Samba of Qatar (47.06), it was a shocking defeat for 2021 Olympic champion, defending world champion and world record holder Karsten Warholm of Norway, who clipped an early hurdle and never fully recovered. Warholm finished fifth, in 47.58.
This is Benjamin’s first world title in the 400m hurdles. Dos Santos won the title in Eugene in 2022 and is #3 on the all-time list, behind Warholm (who set the world record in the Tokyo Olympic final in 2021, at 45.94).
Femke Bol wins 400m hurdles in world-leading time
Defending champion Femke Bol of the Netherlands brought her usual dominance to the women’s race, taking gold in a world-leading time of 51.54. Jasmine Jones of Team USA took silver, in a personal best 52.08, and Emma Zapletalová of Slovakia bronze, in 53.00, defeating Olympic silver medallist Anna Cockrell of the U.S., who finished fourth.
For full results of the 2025 World Athletics Championships, click here.
Canadian Running’s coverage of the 2025 World Athletics Championships is brought to you by ASICS Canada.
