By: Benyamin Davidsons

The summer Olympic competitions can teach us all a lesson in perseverance. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

On Friday, Rai Benjamin crossed his own personal hurdle, finally winning Olympic gold for the USA in the men’s 400 meter hurdle, after coming in as a runner up in 2019 and 2022. As reported by the NY Post, Benjamin, the 27-year-old Mount Vernon- native, beat Norway’s Karsten Warholm and Brazil’s Alison dos Santos—both world record holders who had beat him in past Olympic competitions. Warholm, who won Gold at the 2020 Tokyo Games and is a three-time world champion and the world record holder in the 400m hurdle, had kept pace with Benjamin through the competition. He faltered down the stretch at the finale, however, with Benjamin pushing through to win his long-awaited gold in the hurdle race. The race ended with Benjamin at 46.46 seconds, Warholm winning silver with a speed of 47.06 seconds, and dos Santos winning bronze at 47.26 seconds.

“I got it done,” Benjamin said. ”It has eluded me so long. … I don’t think I ever doubted it. It was more just staying patient and keep showing up every day and something has to shake. I told myself, ‘This has got to go my way at some point.’ And it went my way today.” His speed at the competition marks his best time for the season. He actually didn’t start off the race with too much luck, Benjamin trailed Warholm for most of the race.

He also seemed to have trouble with the eighth hurdle, with an awkward landing. But he was able to push forward, straighten up his stride and make it across all 10 hurdles, then he burst past the disappointed Norwegian in the final 100 meters. “I just remember freaking landing awkward off seven and then eight came up and I had to reach because I landed so awkward and I was like, ‘Please don’t fall.’ And then I had to reach for 10 and switch legs and at that point I was like, ‘Please don’t get walked,’” Benjamin said. “It wasn’t particularly the quickest but we got it done.”

“I can’t believe I actually finally did it,” Benjamin told reporters. “It just happened at the right moment. My family is here, my friends are here. To do it in front of them means so much to me. I’m just so excited.” “That one was for them,” said Benjamin, who is 6’3 and weighs about 170 lbs.

As per the Post, the victory marked the United States’ 11th track and field Gold medal in the Summer Olympic games in Paris. The day before, New Jersey native Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone won the women’s 400-meter hurdle, giving the U.S. its first victory in the event since 2016. Benjamin has been extremely vocal in supporting his fellow Team USA members —to the point that he lost his voice cheering for Cole Hocker, who surprised the crowd to win Gold in the 1500-meter long-distance run.

On Saturday, Benjamin also won Gold as part of team USA’s 4x 400m relay race, along with teammates Christopher Bailey, Vernon Norwood, Bryce Deadmon.