In college, Benjamin ran for theUCLA Bruins and then theUSC Trojans, where in early 2018 he was part of the team that set the world best time in the indoor4 × 400 m relay with a time of 3:00.77. At the time, his relay split time of 44.35 s was the fastest ever recorded in an indoor race. In June of the same year he also helped set theNCAA record in the same event but outdoors, and ran what was at the time the second fastest 400 m hurdles race of all time in 47.02 s.
He won the 2015 New York Indoor State meet with a national-leading time of 33.17 in the 300 meters. He was a three-timeNew York State Public High School Athletic Association champion in the 400 m hurdles. Benjamin won a silver medal in the 400 meters at the2015 CARIFTA Games. He was the2015 New Balance 400-meter hurdles national champion.[10] He ran the fastest 2015 prep time in theUnited States in the 400 m hurdles with a time of 49.97, fastest 400 m indoor time in the country with a 46.59 and the third fastest outdoor time 46.19.
Benjamin turned professional in 2018.[11] In 2017, theIAAF suspended all transfers of allegiance, meaning Benjamin could not represent the United States until transfers were reinstated in summer 2018.[12] In October 2018, Benjamin's transfer request was approved, allowing him to represent the United States abroad and compete in USATF Championship events.[2] At the 2018Meeting Areva inParis, he ran 19.99 in the 200 meters to take .65 of a second off his previous personal best.[5][6][13] He became the 72nd person to break 20 seconds.[14]
2019-2021: World championship medalist, Olympic debut, number 2 all-time
At the 2019Mt. SAC Relays, that year atEl Camino College inTorrance, California, Benjamin joined his training partner and previous college teammate,Michael Norman running the 400 meters. Benjamin ran his personal best of 44.31, the 50th best time in history[15] behind Norman's 43.45, which turned out to be the fastest 400 run in the 2019 season and tied him as the 4th fastest of all time.[16]
At theWeltklasse Zürich in August 2019, Benjamin became just the fourth person in history to break 47 seconds for the 400 metres hurdles, with a time of 46.98 seconds, as he finished second in the race behindKarsten Warholm, who set a new European record.[17] Competing at the2019 World Championships inDoha, Qatar, Benjamin won the silver medal in the 400 m hurdles, in 47.66 seconds, finishing behind Warholm, who was also defending champion.[18] At the championships, Benjamin later won a gold medal as part of the Americanmen's 4 × 400 m relay, running the anchor leg alongsideFred Kerley,Michael Cherry andWil London.[19]
In 2021, Benjamin ran a personal best 46.83 at the US Olympic Trials, and made his Olympic debut at the delayed2020 Olympic Games inTokyo, Japan. He won the silver medal in the 400 m hurdles, running 46.17 seconds, not just a personal best time and American record, but the second quickest time ever, beaten into silver only by Karsten Warholm's world record. Some asked if it was "The Greatest Race Ever", withAlison dos Santos third in 46.72, a time they would have been the world record five weeks earlier. Benjamin’s time would have marked a 0.53 second improvement on the previous world record and would have been the largest improvement on the record in 53 years, but for Warholm's run. Such was the improvement in recorded times by the three medalists, onlyKevin Young apart from Benjamin and Dos Santos had come within a second of Warholm's time.[20] At the Games, Benjamin later won a gold medal in themen's 4 × 400 m relay with Michael Norman, Michael Cherry andBryce Deadmon.[11][21]
Benjamin also won a silver medal at his home2022 World Championships held inEugene, Oregon, running 46.89 seconds behind Alison Dos Santos with Warholm nursing an injury in seventh.[11] Speaking of his competitive rivalry with Warholm and Dos Santos, Benjamin said, "we’ve run so fast and we’re continuing to take the events to new heights…We have to keep it going, keep running fast, keep competing well, and keep giving people the hope for the excitement to come in the future".[22]
By the summer of 2023, Benjamin had tweaked his racing pattern between hurdles, aiming for a longer stride cadence for tempo, producing more speed leading into the back straight finishing kick.[11] In July, Benjamin won a fourth-straight national title in the 400m hurdles at the 2023 U.S. Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon., running a season's best 46.62, to take the win ahead ofCJ Allen.[23]
Benjamin had his best performance of the season last. He won the 2023 Diamond League final at the2023 Prefontaine Classic on 16 September in 46.39 seconds ahead of Warholm, McMaster and Dos Santos. It was the fourth fastest time in history and the fastest time of 2023 worldwide, as well as a Prefontaine and Diamond League record.[27]
Benjamin went through 2024 unbeaten in the 400 metres hurdles.[28] He ran a world-leading time of 46.46 seconds to win the US Olympic Trials, and ran 46.67 seconds to win against his rivals Karsten Warholm and Alison Dos Santos at the2024 Diamond League meetingHerculis, in Monaco. He became the2024 Olympic champion inParis, France in August, running the 400 m hurdles in46.46 to equal his own world-leading mark. It was his first individual gold medal having earned a podium spot at the previous four global championships, with Warholm behind him in silver, and Dos Santos in bronze.[29] He became a double Paris Olympic gold medalist in the final event of the Games as a member of the American 4 × 400 m relay team retaining the title in2:54.43, a new Olympic record, racing alongside Christopher Bailey, Vernon Norwood and Bryce Deadmon.[30][31]
After opening 2025 on 2 February with a victory in an indoors 300m in Boston, Benjamin did not compete again until 12 June in Oslo at the2025 Bislett Games in 300m hurdles, and then three days later, a 400m hurdles in Stockholm at the2025 BAUHAUS-galan. Those marked his first time racing at those European events, and his latest outdoor debut since the pandemic-abbreviated 2020 season.[32] He won the event in Stockholm ahead of Warholm and Dos Santos, and finished runner-up to Warholm in Oslo, running a personal best for the 300m hurdles of 33.22 seconds.[33][34] That month, he also recorded a win in the2025 Diamond League at theMeeting de Paris.[35]
Competing at the2025 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, in September 2025, he won the global gold medal for the second consecutive year in the 400 m hurdles, running a season's best time of 46.52 seconds to win from Alison dos Santos andAbderrahman Samba of Qatar. However, Benjamin was initially disqualified because he clipped his final hurdle causing it to dislodge, and its adjusted position came into the adjoining lane ofEzekiel Nathaniel, who was following behind. However, as it did not appear to affect the Nigerian's run or the order of the finishers, Benjamin, who had already posed for pictures trackside with a golden crown, was reinstated.[36] On the final day of the championships he won a silver medal running in the final of themen's 4 × 400 m relay as the American team finished runner-up to Botswana.[37]
Benjamin is the son ofWest Indies international and AntiguancricketerWinston Benjamin.[8][38] His childhood was split between Antigua and New York, before he permanently settled in New York for high school.[39]
Benjamin co-hosts a podcast called "Beyond the Records" withNoah Lyles andGrant Holloway, which launched in December 2024.[40][11]
Benjamin is an avid cyclist, frequently cycling around Los Angeles and to and from hurdling practice at UCLA.[41]
Antigua and Barbuda
United States
