AMERICAN RAI BENJAMIN outpaced rivals Alison Dos Santos and Karsten Warholm to claim a first world 400 metres hurdles title in Tokyo today.
Benjamin was briefly disqualified before being reinstated, after he hit the last hurdle and it moved into the neighbouring lane.
“I need that Guinness now,” the 2024 Olympic champion told RTÉ Sport’s David Gillick afterwards.
"I need that Guinness now!" - @DavidGillick caught up with new 400m hurdles king Rai Benjamin, after the American was dramatically disqualified and then reinstated as the gold medallist 📺Watch the #WorldAthleticsChamps on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player pic.twitter.com/XbewPwq0Ju
Benjamin, who has two previous world silvers and a bronze to his name, clocked a season’s best time of 46.52sec for victory at the National Stadium.
Brazil’s 2022 world champion Dos Santos took silver in 46.84sec, with Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba rounding out the podium (47.06sec).
There was heartbreak for Warholm, who previously won world titles in 2017, 2019 and 2023, and who claimed gold on the same Tokyo track at the Covid-delayed 2021 Olympics.
The Norwegian could only finish fifth in 47.58sec behind Nigeria’s Ezekiel Nathaniel.
Warholm, in lane four, got off to his trademark thunderous start, but clipped the third hurdle.
Coming off the bend into the home straight, Benjamin, in lane seven, had a clear lead.
The American kept his rivals at bay, Dos Santos finishing strongly, but Warholm fading to a disappointing fifth.
Femke Bol. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Femke Bol retained her world 400 metre hurdles title in an event that two-time Olympic champion and world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone opted to skip.
Dutchwoman Bol blazed home in a time of 51.54sec in Tokyo, ahead of American Jasmine Jones and Slovakia’s Emma Zapletalova.
It marked the end of another successful season for Bol, who completed an incredible sixth Diamond League campaign unbeaten.
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But the race was notable for the absence of McLaughlin-Levrone, who chose not to compete in the hurdles in Tokyo so she could concentrate on the 400m flat race.
The decision paid off handsomely, with the American clocking the second-fastest time ever to win Thursday’s final.
The McLaughlin-Levrone-shaped hole in the hurdles final line-up may have disappointed the crowd but Bol was thinking only of winning her second world title.
Her first, in Budapest two years ago, also came without having to beat McLaughlin-Levrone, who missed the competition through injury.
Bol faced competition in Tokyo from American duo Anna Cockrell and Dalilah Muhammad.
Cockrell took Olympic silver in Paris last year behind McLaughlin-Levrone but ahead of bronze medallist Bol.
Muhammad, the 2016 Olympic champion, was looking for one final hurrah at the age of 35.
Instead it was Jones who gave Bol the stiffest challenge, rounding the final bend within striking distance of the Dutchwoman.
Bol stretched her legs to cross the line the comfortable winner, with Jones taking silver in a personal best time of 52.03sec.
Zapletalova took bronze in a national record of 53.00.
Noah Lyles. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Meanwhile, Noah Lyles matched Usain Bolt’s record of four consecutive world 200 metre titles as he scorched to victory in Tokyo on Friday.
Lyles, who won bronze in the 100m in the Japanese capital, clocked 19.52sec in what the charismatic American calls his “bread and butter” event.
Lyles roared as he came through the line, raising four fingers to acknowledge his four 200m titles and quickly seeking out his onlooking mother Keisha Caine Bishop in the stands.
Lyles’s teammate Kenny Bednarek took silver in 19.58sec, with Jamaican Bryan Levell claiming bronze in 19.64sec.
Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo of Botswana had to settle for fourth, just a hundredth of a second off a podium place.
Anguilla-born Briton Zharnel Hughes was the other sub-20 sprinter, fifth in 19.78sec.
Bolt won his four titles from 2009-2015, going on to collect 11 world golds and eight Olympic titles in his storied career.
“I can’t wait for 2027 to become the only man to win five 200 metres titles!” said Lyles.
“I knew some of the guys were going to tighten up but I just stayed relaxed and got the job done. I am proud to be able to show all my skills.
“I had great speed endurance, that’s something I tried to build up by doing 400 metres, and had during the 100m final.
“But this is where I got to show off all my skills.”
Elsewhere, Keely Hodgkinson has admitted the unusual warm-up conditions at the World Athletics Championships have added an extra challenge for her in Tokyo.
The Olympic 800m champion took the next step in her chase of a first world title by winning the third heat in one minute 57.53 seconds to book a place in the final alongside training partner Georgia Hunter Bell.
Yoyogi Park, where the warm-up track is located, is not – as is common – next to the stadium, but a drive away. Google Maps estimates it takes six minutes, but the PA news agency understands the commute is actually closer to 15 minutes.
“It doesn’t feel good out there,” said two-time world silver medallist Hodgkinson, after emerging fourth-fastest of the semi-finalists.
Pressed further, she explained: “I think the whole warm-up situation, you’re warming up for almost two hours. It can be quite draining, so maybe we will have to look at doing something better come Sunday.
“But other than that, I’m happy to be in (another) world final. That’s an achievement in itself. I’m really happy to do that and be in the picture for another medal, hopefully.”
PA has contacted World Athletics for comment.
Hodgkinson is not the first British athlete to comment on the set-up. Josh Kerr, who came into these championships as the defending 1500m champion but sustained a calf injury in the final, said after his first heat on Sunday that it was a “whole new call room situation from the warm-up track and everything” that required “practice”.
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'I need that Guinness now' - Benjamin wins world 400m hurdles title after DQ drama
LAST UPDATE | 19 Sep 2025
AMERICAN RAI BENJAMIN outpaced rivals Alison Dos Santos and Karsten Warholm to claim a first world 400 metres hurdles title in Tokyo today.
Benjamin was briefly disqualified before being reinstated, after he hit the last hurdle and it moved into the neighbouring lane.
“I need that Guinness now,” the 2024 Olympic champion told RTÉ Sport’s David Gillick afterwards.
Benjamin, who has two previous world silvers and a bronze to his name, clocked a season’s best time of 46.52sec for victory at the National Stadium.
Brazil’s 2022 world champion Dos Santos took silver in 46.84sec, with Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba rounding out the podium (47.06sec).
There was heartbreak for Warholm, who previously won world titles in 2017, 2019 and 2023, and who claimed gold on the same Tokyo track at the Covid-delayed 2021 Olympics.
The Norwegian could only finish fifth in 47.58sec behind Nigeria’s Ezekiel Nathaniel.
Warholm, in lane four, got off to his trademark thunderous start, but clipped the third hurdle.
Coming off the bend into the home straight, Benjamin, in lane seven, had a clear lead.
The American kept his rivals at bay, Dos Santos finishing strongly, but Warholm fading to a disappointing fifth.
Femke Bol retained her world 400 metre hurdles title in an event that two-time Olympic champion and world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone opted to skip.
Dutchwoman Bol blazed home in a time of 51.54sec in Tokyo, ahead of American Jasmine Jones and Slovakia’s Emma Zapletalova.
It marked the end of another successful season for Bol, who completed an incredible sixth Diamond League campaign unbeaten.
But the race was notable for the absence of McLaughlin-Levrone, who chose not to compete in the hurdles in Tokyo so she could concentrate on the 400m flat race.
The decision paid off handsomely, with the American clocking the second-fastest time ever to win Thursday’s final.
The McLaughlin-Levrone-shaped hole in the hurdles final line-up may have disappointed the crowd but Bol was thinking only of winning her second world title.
Her first, in Budapest two years ago, also came without having to beat McLaughlin-Levrone, who missed the competition through injury.
Bol faced competition in Tokyo from American duo Anna Cockrell and Dalilah Muhammad.
Cockrell took Olympic silver in Paris last year behind McLaughlin-Levrone but ahead of bronze medallist Bol.
Muhammad, the 2016 Olympic champion, was looking for one final hurrah at the age of 35.
Instead it was Jones who gave Bol the stiffest challenge, rounding the final bend within striking distance of the Dutchwoman.
Bol stretched her legs to cross the line the comfortable winner, with Jones taking silver in a personal best time of 52.03sec.
Zapletalova took bronze in a national record of 53.00.
Meanwhile, Noah Lyles matched Usain Bolt’s record of four consecutive world 200 metre titles as he scorched to victory in Tokyo on Friday.
Lyles, who won bronze in the 100m in the Japanese capital, clocked 19.52sec in what the charismatic American calls his “bread and butter” event.
Lyles roared as he came through the line, raising four fingers to acknowledge his four 200m titles and quickly seeking out his onlooking mother Keisha Caine Bishop in the stands.
Lyles’s teammate Kenny Bednarek took silver in 19.58sec, with Jamaican Bryan Levell claiming bronze in 19.64sec.
Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo of Botswana had to settle for fourth, just a hundredth of a second off a podium place.
Anguilla-born Briton Zharnel Hughes was the other sub-20 sprinter, fifth in 19.78sec.
Bolt won his four titles from 2009-2015, going on to collect 11 world golds and eight Olympic titles in his storied career.
“I can’t wait for 2027 to become the only man to win five 200 metres titles!” said Lyles.
“I knew some of the guys were going to tighten up but I just stayed relaxed and got the job done. I am proud to be able to show all my skills.
“I had great speed endurance, that’s something I tried to build up by doing 400 metres, and had during the 100m final.
“But this is where I got to show off all my skills.”
Elsewhere, Keely Hodgkinson has admitted the unusual warm-up conditions at the World Athletics Championships have added an extra challenge for her in Tokyo.
The Olympic 800m champion took the next step in her chase of a first world title by winning the third heat in one minute 57.53 seconds to book a place in the final alongside training partner Georgia Hunter Bell.
Yoyogi Park, where the warm-up track is located, is not – as is common – next to the stadium, but a drive away. Google Maps estimates it takes six minutes, but the PA news agency understands the commute is actually closer to 15 minutes.
“It doesn’t feel good out there,” said two-time world silver medallist Hodgkinson, after emerging fourth-fastest of the semi-finalists.
Pressed further, she explained: “I think the whole warm-up situation, you’re warming up for almost two hours. It can be quite draining, so maybe we will have to look at doing something better come Sunday.
“But other than that, I’m happy to be in (another) world final. That’s an achievement in itself. I’m really happy to do that and be in the picture for another medal, hopefully.”
PA has contacted World Athletics for comment.
Hodgkinson is not the first British athlete to comment on the set-up. Josh Kerr, who came into these championships as the defending 1500m champion but sustained a calf injury in the final, said after his first heat on Sunday that it was a “whole new call room situation from the warm-up track and everything” that required “practice”.
– © AFP 2025, with reporting by PA
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