Mount Vernon's Rai Benjamin Proves To Be Gold Anchor

MOUNT VERNON, NY — After a bittersweet second place victory in the 400-meter hurdles, Rai Benjamin anchored the Team USA relay squad to victory on the final day of the Tokyo games.

Benjamin finished his leg with a time of 2:55.70, ensuring the U.S. gold medal in the 4x400 relay event. The Netherlands earned a distant silver with a time of 2:57.18 and Botswana took the bronze with a time of 2:57.27.

The U.S. men’s team was anchored by Benjamin. Teammates Michael Cherry, Michael Norman and Bryce Deadmon handed the Mount Vernon alum the baton in a good position win and earned the U.S. men’s track and field team the second gold medal of the games.

Benjamin became a favorite to win the 400-meter hurdles event after qualifying for Tokyo by winning by more than 1 second in the U.S. Olympic track and field trials in Eugene, Oregon with a time of 46.83. His time was .05 seconds away from the world record time set nearly three decades ago.

"It hurts a little bit to know that it was right there and I couldn't grab it," Benjamin told TeamUSA at the time. "But it's just more fuel for the fire. It'll come when it comes."

In the medal heat, Benjamin broke that record, but it was only good enough for silver. He finished with a time of 46.17, but was edged out by rival Karsten Warholm from Norway who finished with a time of 45.94.

The second place finish made the team victory even sweeter or as Mount Vernon Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard perhaps put it best in a social media post, "The gold is coming home!"