USA Olympian, Rai Benjamin, joins us on this week's podcast as we kick off our exclusive "Live from Caesars Palace in Las Vegas" series. Rai sits with J.T. and talks about all things T&F including training during the pandemic, his days at USC, representing the USA at the Olympics and how training with fellow Olympians helped him break the 400m hurdle world record and run the 2nd fastest time EVER!

Follow Rai on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/kingben/
Follow Rai on Twitter: https://twitter.com/_kingben_

Name: Rai Benjamin
Sport: Track and Field
Event(s): 400-meter hurdles
Height: 6-3
DOB: 7/27/1997
Birthplace: Mount Vernon, N.Y.
Hometown: Mount Vernon, N.Y.
High School: Mount Vernon High School (Mount Vernon, N.Y.)
College: University of Southern California, Political Science
Team/Club: Nike
Coach(es): Quincy Watts

Olympic Games

• 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, gold (4x400m), silver (400m Hurdles)

World Athletics Championships

• 2019 IAAF World Championships, gold (4x400m), silver (400m Hurdles)
• 2013 IAAF World Youth Championships

Other Career Highlights

• 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, gold (400mH)
• 2019 Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships, gold (400mH)
• 2018 NCAA Outdoor Championships, gold (400mH, 4x400m)
• 2018 NCAA Indoor Championships, gold (200m, 4x400m)
• 2018 NCAA Outdoor Championships, gold (400mH, 4x400m)
• 2017 NCAA Outdoor Championships, silver (400mH, 4x400m)
• 2016 NCAA Outdoor Championships, sixth (400m)

Personal

Rai was born on July 27, 1997...He is the son of Winston Benjamin and Jeanette Mason...He is a Political Science major at USC...When he isn’t sprinting and hurdling, Rai can often be found playing Fortnite, or enjoying the LA restaurant scene...At the NCAA championships he clocked 47.02 in the 400mH final, the second-fastest time in history....In the Tokyo Olympic 400m hurdles final, the greatest and deepest race in track and field history that stunned the world, Benjamin set an American record with a 46.17 for silver behind Karston Warholm’s world record 45.94.

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About On Track & Field Podcast

By On Track & Field, Inc

The weekly On Track Podcast, hosted by Coach J.T. Ayers, covers all things Track & Field and Cross Country. Listen to some of the most respected coaches in the world, hear from the biggest athletes in the sport and keep up to date with the leading trends in training. New episodes drop every Tuesday morning!

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