EUGENE, Oregon — Rai Benjamin went eight weeks without hurdling leading into the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships. The last time Gabby Thomas was at Hayward Field for a 200m final, she was watching, devastated, from a spectator seat.
On Sunday, Benjamin clocked the fifth-fastest 400m hurdles time in history (46.62 seconds). Thomas ran the sixth-fastest 200m ever (21.60, into a headwind).
Benjamin and Thomas were just two of the stories of perseverance on the last day of the four-day USATF Outdoors in Eugene, Oregon, where athletes qualified for August’s world championship in Budapest.
Benjamin, the reigning Olympic and world silver medalist, cleared 30 hurdles over three rounds the last three days, racing for the first time since May 5.
USATF OUTDOORS: Results
He was sore and felt flat going into Sunday’s final. Yet when he crossed the finish line, he pointed to coach Joanna Hayes, the 2004 Olympic 100m hurdles gold medalist.
Benjamin credited Hayes for guiding him back into form. He had been grounded after a May 5 Diamond League race in Doha due to a nerve flareup in his back through his quad. He did fly to Germany for treatment in June, after which he put total faith in Hayes to get him ready for this meet. Benjamin returned to hurdling last week.
Now he’s right back in the thick of the most compelling three-person rivalry in the sport with Olympic gold medalist Karsten Warholm of Norway and world champion Alison dos Santos of Brazil. The trio has combined to record the eight fastest times in history.
“A lot of people have been counting me out,” said Benjamin, who now wants to join the field for a July 21 Diamond League meet in Monaco, which already announced Warholm and dos Santos. “I’ve gotten silver these past three championships. It’s no secret. It’s the talk of the town, but at the same time I’m the most consistent person in the field. If you look at last year, we [Warholm and I] were both hurt. I medaled [at worlds]. At a certain point, you’ve got to give me respect.”
Thomas could not follow her breakout Tokyo Olympic 200m bronze medal with more hardware at last July’s worlds in Eugene.
She had a grade-two hamstring tear 12 days before last year’s USATF Outdoors, yet raced anyway. “I was very delusional at the time,” said Thomas, who studied neurobiology at Harvard.
She was last in the eight-woman 200m final, but still went to 2022 Worlds as part of the 4x100m relay pool (she wasn’t used). At those worlds, she chose to take a seat in the crowd to watch Jamaican Shericka Jackson win the 200m in the second-fastest time in history (21.45).
“It was devastating,” Thomas said. “I remember thinking I could be in this race, and I remember wanting to run it so badly and thinking I really could have medaled.”
Thomas and Jackson haven’t gone head-to-head yet this year, but they intersected in a way on Sunday. Thomas ran the world’s fastest time of the year in the semifinals, after which Jackson won the Jamaican title in an even faster 21.71. Thomas learned of that before the final, then went out and reclaimed the world lead, speeding past U.S. 100m champion Sha’Carri Richardson (who is also a medal contender in the 200m at worlds).
“I really felt like I needed to prove myself,” said Thomas, who had added motivation from reading a social media post that tagged her, predicting she’d “get dusted.” “I just really wanted to prove it wrong.”
In the 110m hurdles, Olympic silver medalist Grant Holloway scratched the final, which was of little importance to him because he has a bye into worlds as a reigning champion.
In his absence, Daniel Roberts repeated as national champ. The runner-up was another story of perseverance: Cordell Tinch, a Division II standout at Pittsburg State who returned to track this year after three years away.
Devon Allen scratched the 110m hurdles semifinals. He came to the meet having not cleared a hurdle since injuring a calf on June 26, then was 14th in Saturday’s first round. Allen turns his attention to Philadelphia Eagles training camp, bidding to make that team after spending last season on the practice squad as a wide receiver.
Shamier Little also authored a comeback story. She outdueled Dalilah Muhammad by 19 hundredths to go five years between national titles in the 400m hurdles. Olympic and world champion and world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has a bye into worlds but may give it up to focus on the flat 400m.
Erriyon Knighton, 19, became the youngest U.S. men’s champion in a track event in 43 years, taking the 200m in 19.72 seconds over Olympic and world silver medalist Kenny Bednarek. Knighton is now second-fastest in the world this year behind Noah Lyles, who has a bye into worlds as reigning champion and didn’t contest the 200m this week.
World 100m champion Fred Kerley was beaten out for the last spot on the 200m team by one hundredth by NCAA 100m champion Courtney Lindsey. Kerley still has a bye into the 100m at worlds.
Nia Akins won the 800m by overtaking Olympic bronze medalist Raevyn Rogers in the last 100 meters. Ajeé Wilson, a two-time world bronze medalist, was last in the eight-woman field to miss a global championship team for the first time since 2012. Wilson said she was slowed by an unspecified issue she’s been dealing with for the past two years.
Bryce Hoppel repeated as men’s 800m champion after a physical race where a yellow flag was raised on the first lap amid bumping near the front. There was a significant delay after the race before the results became official.
Olympic and world champion Katie Moon cleared 4.90 meters, best in the world this year, to win the pole vault.
In the hammer, Brooke Andersen edged DeAnna Price, 78.65 meters to 78.18, in a duel between the last two world champs.
Grant Fisher, who last year broke the American 5000m and 10,000m records, scratched the 5000m due to a stress reaction in his femur. He aggravated the injury in Thursday’s 10,000m, where he was fourth. Abdihamid Nur later won the 5000m final.
Elise Cranny doubled up in the women’s 5000m, adding that title to her 10,000m crown from Thursday.
The track and field season continues with a Diamond League meet in Chorzow, Poland, next Sunday, live on Peacock.
