Men’s 400m hurdles final stuns world with historic times, Rai Benjamin breaks American record

TOKYO --  The greatest and deepest race in track and field history stunned the world as Karsten Warholm of Norway demolished his own 400m hurdles world record with a mind-boggling 45.94, and he needed every bit of that historic run to beat Rai Benjamin (Mount Vernon, New York / USATF New York), who was on his shoulder until the final barrier and set a pending American record with a 46.17 for silver.
 
Brazil’s Alison dos Santos took bronze in 46.72, which would have been a world record before Warholm’s 46.70 earlier this season. Six of the eight runners set national records.
 
Warholm was out very quickly as usual in lane six, one lane outside Benjamin, and had a one stride lead through the 250m mark, where Benjamin started to catch up to him. The two then raced into the history books down the homestretch and only a slight bobble by Benjamin before hurdle ten created separation. Benjamin chopped .61 seconds off Kevin Young’s American record, which before Warholm’s 46.70 last month had stood as the world record since it was set at the 1992 Games in Barcelona.
 
Women’s Long Jump final
The deepest and one of the closest competitions ever was a three-way battle between 2012 gold medalist and Rio silver medalist Brittney Reese (Chula Vista, California / USATF San Diego-Imperial), Nigeria’s Ese Brume and reigning world champion Malaika Mihambo of Germany.
 
Brume threw down the gauntlet in round one with a 6.97m/22-10.5, and Mihambo came close in the second round with a 6.95m/22-9.75 before Reese responded with a 6.97m of her own in round three to take over the lead on the basis of a better secondary mark. In the next stanza, Brume improved her best secondary mark to retake the lead and then round five saw Reese move atop the standings yet again with a 6.95m effort. 
 
It all came down to the final round, then, and Mihambo had the best jump of the day, hitting 7.00m/22-11.75 to edge Reese off the top of the podium and into the silver medal position. Reese hit the board and landed 6.84m/22-5.25 and earned her second silver medal at an Olympic Games.
 
NCAA indoor and outdoor champion and collegiate record holder Tara Davis (Agoura Hills, California / USATF Southern California) improved on each of her first four attempts, culminating in a 6.84m/22-5.25 that would place her sixth.
 
Men's 1,500m 1st round
 Sixth with two laps to go in a well-paced heat one, Trials and NCAA champion Cole Hocker (Indianapolis, Indiana / USATF Indiana) hugged the inside and was fourth at the bell. He avoided jostling with 300m to go and found a clear lane off the final turn to follow the leaders to the line, finishing fourth in 3:36.16 and automatically advancing with the fifth-fastest time overall.
 
Reigning Olympic champion Matthew Centrowitz (Arlington, Virginia / USATF Oregon) tucked into third on the inside with two laps remaining in heat two and then moved out to the shoulder of Kenya's Abel Kipsang before surging to the front at the bell. Avoiding the collision behind him that took two runners down, Centrowitz made sure he was in qualifying position and placed second behind Kipsang in 3:41.12 to move on. Both will compete in the semifinals on Thursday, August 5 at 7:00 AM ET / 8:00 PM in Tokyo. 
 
Yared Nuguse (Louisville, Kentucky / USATF Kentucky) withdrew just before the race with a right thigh injury after attempting to warm up.
 
Women’s 400m 1st round
A steady early pace put Trials champion Quanera Hayes (Hope Mills, North Carolina / USATF North Carolina) in good stead to earn one of the three automatic qualifying berths as she ran even with Britain’s Jodie Williams and finished second in 51.07. Allyson Felix (Los Angeles, California / USATF Southern California) used all the experience she has gathered as the most decorated U.S. woman in Olympic track and field history, cruising to the win in heat three in 50.84.
 
In the final heat, 2019 World Championships fourth-place finisher Wadeline Jonathas (West Columbia, South Carolina / USATF South Carolina) ran aggressively for the first 150m and then held her position in second, clocking 50.93 to easily advance.
 
All three will next compete in the semifinals on Wednesday, August 4 at 6:30 AM ET / 7:30 PM local time. 
 
Men’s 200m 1st round
As expected, all three Team USATF men comfortably advanced to the semifinal (Tuesday, August 3 at 7:50 AM ET / 8:50 PM local time). By far the youngest man in the field at 17, high schooler Erriyon Knighton (Riverview, Florida / USATF Florida) flew around the turn and strolled down the straight to win heat four in 20.55. Knighton is the youngest U.S. male track and field Olympian since Jim Ryun in 1964. 
 
Making it look easier than anyone should in heat five, Kenny Bednarek (Minneola, Florida / USATF Wisconsin) stormed off the curve on the way to a 20.01 that is the fastest time ever in an Olympic first round. 
 
Reigning world champion Noah Lyles (Alexandria, Virginia / USATF Potomac Valley) turned in a 20.18 to win the final heat.
 
Men’s Triple Jump qualifying
Two of the three Americans did enough to make it to the final, led by Donald Scott (Ypsilanti, Michigan / USATF Michigan). Scott bounded 17.01m/55-9.75 on his first attempt, just short of the auto standard for advancing to the final, but it ranked him sixth overall and earned him his first Olympic final spot. Two-time silver medalist Will Claye (Buckeye, Arizona / USATF New York), one of the Team USATF captains, started with a 16.78m/55-0.75 and then added 10 centimeters to that in the next round. Claye closed out his account for the day with a 16.91m/55-5.75 and garnered his third straight Olympic final. Scott and Claye will next compete Wednesday, August 4 at 10:00 PM ET / Thursday, August 5 11:00 AM local time. 
 
Chris Benard (Chula Vista, California / USATF San Diego-Imperial) had a best of 16.59m/54-5.25 and did not qualify for the final.
 
Women’s Javelin qualifying
American record holder and Trials champion Maggie Malone (Vestavia Hills, Alabama / USATF Gulf) didn’t take long booking her trip to the final, launching the 600-gram implement 63.07m/206-11 to surpass the auto standard and become the first U.S. Olympic finalist since Donna Mayhew in 1992. Malone’s throw was also the best in Games history by an American with the modern implement (post-1999), beating the previous record set by Winger in flight A. It was also the second best toss of the day overall. Malone will continue on Friday, August 6 at 7:50 AM ET / 8:50 PM in Tokyo.
 
Team co-captain and former American record holder Kara Winger (Colorado Springs, Colorado / USATF New York) faced very damp conditions in the first flight, opening with a 57.95m/190-1. She extended that to 59.71m/195-10 in round two and that would stand as her best of the morning, leaving her just outside the 12 qualifiers for the final. Her mark was at the time the best ever in the Games by an American woman with the modern implement. Ariana Ince (Chula Vista, California / USATF San Diego-Imperial) had a best of 54.98m/180-4 and did not make it to the final.
 
On demand coverage of this session’s events will be available via NBC Olympics, and full results are available on the World Athletics website. 
 
The next session begins at 6:10 A.M. ET with the men’s 110m hurdles qualifying round. Fans in the U.S. can watch here via NBC properties.  
 
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USATF Medal Count (7)
Gold (1)
Women’s Discus Throw - Valarie Allman
 
Silver (5)
Women’s Shot Put – Raven Saunders
Men’s 100m – Fred Kerley
Women’s 100m Hurdles - Keni Harrison
Women’s Long Jump - Brittney Reese
Men’s 400m Hurdles - Rai Benjamin 
 
Bronze (1)
4x400m Mixed Relay – Trevor Stewart, Kendall Ellis, Kailyn Whitney, Vernon Norwood
 
American Records (1)
Men’s 400m Hurdles - Rai Benjamin (46.17)
 
USATF Statistician