All three of the USA’s 400 meter hurdlers made it through to the semi-final round at the Olympic Games in Paris. Rai Benjamin and CJ Allen picked up the qualification necessary in their heats, and Trevor Bassitt claimed his stake on the startlist in the repechage rounds.
In the heats for the 400mH, contested on Monday, Rai Benjamin opened his Olympic campaign with a 48.82-second effort, winning the first heat. Benjamin looked in control, running comfortably from the front the entire race.
Watch Rai Benjamin’s 400mH first round at the Paris Olympics, via YouTube
In the day’s third heat, CJ Allen lined up against Tokyo bronze medalist and 2022 World Champion, Brazil’s Alison dos Santos. The pair would finish with big Q’s, crossing the line in second and third position, running 48.64 and 48.75, respectively.
The second heat however did not go as planned for USA’s Trevor Bassitt. Norway’s Karston Warholm ensured this was the fastest of the heats, taking the pace out hot and eventually winning the race with a strong 47.57-second performance. Bassitt, the 2022 World Championships bronze medalist, finished in fifth position in the heat, relegating him to the next day’s repechage rounds.
The repechage rounds are new to the Olympics this year. For athletes who do not finish with an automatic qualifying mark out of the heats, they have the opportunity to earn their spot in the semi-final by taking part in the repechage, which is used to fill out the remainder of the startlist for those semis. For the 400 meter hurdles, it meant that athletes who did not finish in the top three in their heat, and were not the next three fastest time qualifiers overall, were granted a spot in the repechage round.
Bassitt contested his repechage on Tuesday morning in Paris. Leaving nothing up to chance, he ran 48.64 seconds to win his round, earning a lane for the semifinals.
The 400 meter hurdle semifinals will take place on the evening of Wednesday, August 7 with the final to be contested under the stadium lights on Friday, August 9.
