At the 2026 World Ultimate Championships, Rai Benjamin of the United States crossed the line 2nd in the 400m hurdles in a time of 46.40 seconds.
Now that may not seem very impressive, considering he didn’t actually win the race and was almost half a second behind the winner. But this came at the end of a historic 400/400H double that few in history have ever attempted, let alone successfully walked away with a top finish in both events.
If we rewind almost 20 years to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Angelo Taylor of the USA won gold in the 400mH, which was a legendary moment, as he was returning to the top of the podium after winning gold at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. But this single win in 2008 was never actually the plan.
At the USA Olympic Trials, Taylor had entered both the 400H and 400m. After securing his spot to the Olympics in the hurdles, he then lined up in the open 400m but was unable to progress past the 1st round.
Angelo Taylor was already one of the greatest 400/400H athletes in history, having won individual medals in both events at previous global champs. But even he was unable to pull off that double. Which puts into perspective how special what Rai did at the World Ultimate Championships actually is. And when you take a step back, it’s arguably one of the most impressive attempted doubles we have seen in track & field.
A Rare Double
In general, there are usually 3-4 core doubles contested at major championships. The most traditional are the 100/200 and the 5K/10K, which we see athletes do all the time. The 1500/5K as well as the 200/400 are also somewhat more common, but entirely dependent on the schedule, which, at least for the 200/400, tends to not be as favorable.
But the 400m/400H is very rare and very unique. The demands of both events, as essentially long sprints, take so much out of an athlete. And the schedule at global champs is never really favorable either. Which means attempting this double is almost never in consideration, even for the best of the best.
Rai Benjamin’s 400m Pedigree
Rai Benjamin has arguably always been a high quality 400/400H athlete. While in the NCAA, he competed for UCLA in the 400H and was 6th and 2nd at the 2016 and 2017 NCAA Champs, respectively. He then transferred to USC and became the 2018 NCAA champion running 47.02 seconds, matching Edwin Moses’ legendary mark and becoming the 2nd fastest athlete in history at that point.
By 2019, he had run 46 seconds, and kicked off an amazing career in the hurdles that saw him win Olympic gold and silver, as well as world gold, double silver and a bronze.
He competed in the open 400m way less frequently, but he clearly had talent. His best 400m times were 44.31 in 2019 and 44.21 in 2023. On the 4x4 relay, in 2018 he split 43.5, and in 2024 he split 43.18. And for the better part of a decade, Rai has been Team USA’s go-to 4x4 anchor leg, winning double Olympic gold and double world gold on the relay.
So even though 44.21 was his open PB, there were clearly signs he was capable of a bit more, which we actually saw in 2026.
The 2026 Season
After winning 400H gold at the 2025 World Championships, Rai stated that he wanted to take on the 400m and 200m during the 2026 season. Though the 200m never came to fruition, we did get him committing fully to the 400m. And he really just wanted to go out there, try something different and have a bit of fun.
While 2026 would not be a traditional year with an Olympics or World Champs, we instead got the World Ultimate Champs occurring for the first time. This would bring together the top-16 athletes in the world, based on ranking, in each event, competing in what was being deemed a new major championship by World Athletics. Defending Olympic and world champions in each event would get an automatic wild card, which gave Rai the freedom to focus on something else like the 400m, since he was the reigning champion in the 400H.
Prior to the Ultimate Championships, Rai opened up his season with a 400m win in Tokyo, Japan, before competing at 4 Diamond League meetings between July and August. Despite a small injury setback after the Tokyo meeting, which kept him out of competition for almost 2 full months, his return race at the Prefontaine Classic saw him go toe-to-toe with world champion Busang Collen Kebinatshipi. He later won the London Diamond League against a very competitive field, which confirmed that he was a serious contender in the event.
Committing to the Double
The idea of doing the 400/400H double didn’t really come up until midway through the season. Rai first jumped into hurdle practice sometime in July, and then jumped into a race just to see where he was at.
At the Lausanne Diamond League, Rai ran 46.67 seconds in the 400H, clearly showing that, with just a bit of hurdle training, he was in excellent form and had not lost a step in his main event.
Just 2 days later, he went from Lausanne to the Poland Diamond League, where he ran the 400m in 43.83 seconds. A new personal best, his first time under 44 seconds. And he now became the first ever 400H specialist to run 43 seconds in the flat 400m. Double Olympic hurdle champion Angelo Taylor had the previous best with his 44.05 from back in 2007. Shout out to Quincy Hall’s 43.40, but he was previously a hurdler who dropped the event after 2022 to focus solely on the 400m flat.
This 400m PB likely gave Rai the confirmation that doubling at the Ultimate Champs was truly possible, considering his ability to run fast times in both events despite the quick turnaround time and travel. But even with a slightly modified schedule compared to an Olympics or Worlds, doing a 400/400H double at the Ultimate Championships would not be an easy feat by any stretch.
Shortly after that race in Poland, Rai confirmed that he would be taking on the double, and everyone immediately began breaking down how feasible it actually would be.
The World Ultimate Championships
The Ultimate Champs would take place over 3 days in Budapest, Hungary, from September 11th to the 13th, with Rai racing on all 3 days:
- Day 1 would be the 400m semis.
- Day 2 would have the 400m final, then about 90 minutes later, the 400mH semis.
- Then on Day 3, the 400H final would take place, and considering he would have 3 rounds already in his legs, this would arguably be the toughest day.
It’s important to note that, with 2 rounds of each, the Ultimate Champs schedule is actually easier than what we would see at Worlds or the Olympics, but it’s still very tough nonetheless.
And even more than the schedule, what truly makes this double so challenging was the competition that Rai would be up against. In the 400m, you had the entire 2025 World Championship podium, including Collen Kebinatshipi, who had been dominating all throughout 2026. You also had the reigning Olympic silver and bronze medalists. And in total, excluding Rai, you had 5 men who had run 43 seconds this year alone.
The 400H was just as tough, with newly minted world record holder Alison dos Santos having just run that legendary time of 45.80 seconds. Former Olympic and world champion Karsten Warholm was also in great shape. Then you had a ton of other guys who had all run low 47 seconds in the hurdles. So it would take more than just a personal best in both events to win gold, and likely a big performance to even finish top 3.
The day before the Ultimate Champs, Rai did an interview explaining his preparation and approach to the double. But when the races went off, Rai proved that he was more than ready for the task.
In the 400m, after a competitive semi-final where he ran 44.28 behind Kebinatshipi and Chris Bailey, he would go on to finish 2nd place in the final in a strong time of 44.15 seconds, behind Kebinatshipi’s insane 43.39 win.
The 400mH is where he arguably had one of the greatest individual races in history. After a relatively comfortable semi-final in 47.49 seconds, which saw him playing rock-paper-scissors with Alison dos Santos as they crossed the line, the final was historically fast and competitive.
The Big-3 of Rai, Alison and Karsten in lanes 6, 7 and 8 was the perfect setup, just like we had seen in previous years. As they came around the track, both Rai and Alison pushed the pace through the first 300m. Coming off hurdle 8, both were basically even, with Karsten a step behind. Karsten eventually hit hurdle 9, taking him out of contention.
But then Alison pulled slightly ahead, and eventually took the win in an impressive 45.98, his 2nd time under the 46 second barrier, becoming the first man to run 45 seconds twice in the event. Stay tuned for a more in-depth video on dos Santos.
Rai crossed the line 2nd in 46.40 seconds, his 3rd fastest performance ever and the overall 8th fastest 400H performance in history. And done on very tired legs, after 3 full rounds of high quality 400m competition.
How It Compares Historically
Despite not winning either event, this is arguably the most impressive 400/400H double attempt in the history of the sport, at least in my opinion, even though it has only been attempted a few times.
Back at the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis, we saw 3 men contest the double. Harry Hillman won gold in both events, Frank Waller won silver in both, and George Poage won bronze in the 400H and was 6th in the 400m. But there is a very big caveat. There were no rounds in either event; both were run as straight finals. Also, the men’s hurdles were only 30in, or 76.2cm, instead of the normal 36in, or 91.4cm. So this really isn’t a good comparison at all.
Fast forward 100 years to the 2008 USA Olympic Trials, where Angelo Taylor took on the double, as I mentioned earlier. Angelo actually had a much tougher schedule than Rai as, after the 400H final, he had barely 20 minutes before the heats of the 400m. And because of that, he was basically unable to finish, eventually pulling up about 200m into the race and ending with a DNF. Angelo was legit cooked.
8 years later, Ashley Spencer attempted the double at the 2016 US Olympic Trials and was a bit more successful, with a 7th place in the 400m and 2nd in the 400H. Shamier Little also took on this double at the 2024 Olympic Trials, finishing 9th and 4th in the 400 and 400H, respectively. But the difference here was that both women had a full 3 days of rest between the 400m final and the 400H heats. So much more recovery time.
In 2023, Britton Wilson attempted the double at the NCAA Outdoor Championships while competing for Arkansas. After finishing 2nd in the 400m, she unfortunately faded back to 7th in the 400H. Similar to Angelo Taylor, this was also a very tough double, with the 400H going off just 25 minutes after the 400m final. Also note that Britton had successfully done the 400/400H double at the 2023 West Regionals, which had about 45 minutes between events, as well as the 2022 and 2023 SEC Conference Champs, which had about 90 minutes between events.
But there is ONE really good example that actually occurred very recently. At the 2022 European Championships, Femke Bol took on the 400/400H double and actually walked away with gold medals in both events.
Her schedule was a bit different though:
- On the morning of August 16th, she competed in the 400m semis.
- Then about 30 hours later, on the evening of the 17th, she won gold in the 400m final.
- The next morning, about 12 hours later on August 18th, she lined up for the 400H semis.
- Then finally, again about 30 hours later on the evening of the 19th, she once again won gold in the 400H final.
So Femke had 4 rounds spread out across 4 days and a good amount of rest between each. But this was still a very impressive feat, with some European competition that should not be downplayed. And Femke even won gold as part of the 4x4, so it was a very special meet for her.
But what makes Rai Benjamin’s double so impressive was the competition I noted earlier. In both the 400m and 400H, he was racing some of the fastest athletes in history and finishing just behind winners who ran all-time marks. And at the end of his double, he ran a historically fast mark himself.
Athletes like Angelo Taylor and Britton Wilson arguably had tougher schedules with tighter turnaround times. And Femke Bol actually won gold in both her events. But the global competition Rai faced in his attempt really sets him apart historically.
What’s Next for Rai
So now, as we look forward, Rai confirmed he has no intentions of taking on the 400m anymore and will be shifting his focus right back to the 400mH.
His current PB is 46.17 from 2021. That 46.40 at the end of the double shows he was either close to, or possibly in, PB form; some may even say faster. So 45 seconds is very much on the table, but that looks like it may not even guarantee gold anymore. But solely focusing on the hurdles indicates he is locked in, focused and on a mission to defend his world and Olympic titles.
If you remember, after finishing 2nd at the Tokyo Olympics to Karsten’s world record, Rai was very hard on himself, despite winning silver in the 2nd fastest time ever back then. But his perspective might be a bit different now. He just lost to another 45 second run, but this came after a historic double, and after already winning Olympic and world gold.
He recognizes nothing will ever be easy in this landscape. As quickly as Karsten, Rai and Alison rose to the top, another athlete can quickly do the same. Rai is finding opportunities to challenge himself and enjoying the journey. But he is not slacking, and is likely just as hungry and motivated as ever.