KARSTEN WARHOLM VS RAI BENJAMIN VS ALISON DOS SANTOS | MONACO DIAMOND LEAGUE PRESS CONFERENCE

This week’s men’s 400mH race was already set to be one of the best of the season, as world record holder Karsten Warholm and 2022 World champ Alison dos Santos were bound to go head-to-head for the second time this year. The first matchup went the Brazilian’s way, taking down Warholm on his home turf in Oslo. Then, earlier this week, world leader Rai Benjamin popped onto the start list, marking his first European Diamond League race since 2019.

These three are the three fastest men in the history of the long hurdles, and they collectively hold the 15 fastest times ever (four of those having already been run this year). Their showdown in the Olympic final in Tokyo was one of the single greatest races ever, as Warholm took the event sub-46, Benjamin ran the second-fastest time ever, and dos Santos, who was only 21 at the time, inched under Kevin Young’s world record which had stood for 29 years before Warholm broke it a month before the Games. However, in the two-and-a-half years since, we have yet to see this trio meet at the peak of their powers.

In 2022, Warholm was still dealing with the effects of a torn hamstring by the time the World Championships rolled around. He finished seventh in the final, where dos Santos put the bow on an undefeated season with the third-fastest time ever. In 2023, it was dos Santos struggling to come back from injury. Whether or not he would even run in Budapest was up in the air throughout most of the summer, but he still managed a very impressive fifth in the final. The last time we saw these three on the same track was at the Pre Classic last September, but dos Santos was still a bit off 100%.

Luckily for the fans, all signs point towards each man being in great shape right now. Benjamin has the world lead with his 46.46 from the U.S. Trials, but dos Santos and Warholm aren’t far behind, all having dipped well below 47 seconds in 2024. The Big Race is still three-and-a-half weeks away, but Friday will offer a glorious taste of what’s on the horizon. Given how infrequently this matchup happens, we need to savor every chance we get to see it.

Behind them, NCAA champion Caleb Dean and Jamaican champ Malik James-King have broken out in big ways this year. They sit at four and five on the 2024 lists and have moved into the 25 fastest men all-time. For Dean, it will be his first race since an unfortunate fall on hurdle eight in the finals of the U.S. Trials.

FULL MEET PREVIEW HERE: https://citiusmag.com/articles/monaco-diamond-league-preview-2024


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