Rai Benjamin Savors Moment With Trevor Bassitt As Both Americans Medal In 400m Hurdles; Alison Dos Santos, Kristjan Ceh Achieve New Championships Records; Eleanor Patterson Wins HJ; Jake Wightman Upsets Ingrebrigtsen

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

EUGENE – Rai Benjamin has been through this before, so he knew how special it was to see his young teammate's name appear on the scoreboard in third place. 

Before Trevor Bassitt had fully come to grips with earning a bronze medal straight out of NCAA Division 2 Ashland University (Ohio), Benjamin raced over and tackled him on the Hayward Field track. 

"I looked at the photographers and I was about to hit a pose. As I was about to hit it, I just get trucked by Rai," Bassitt said. "He was just as fired up, if not more, than me. It just shows that he's such a good dude and an incredible teammate."

The fifth night of the World Athletics Championships staged four finals and the stories of new medalists ricocheted around the world. 

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The men's 400-meter hurdles final was a bright moment for the U.S. with two medalists for the first time since 2005. 

Alison dos Santos of Brazil, coming into his prime at age 22, continued an amazing 2022 season and won the gold in 46.29 seconds for a championships record. It marked the fastest performance ever produced on American soil and the No. 3 mark in history.

Benjamin, who has been so limited by tendonitis that he considered pulling out of the meet, pulled himself out of trouble and ran a season's best time of 46.89. 

Benjamin said he will cut his season short and get surgery to repair his injured hamstring. 

"This one meant a lot, given how tough this year has been for me," he said, referring to both the injury and a ill-timed case of COVID-19. 

Bassitt, running in Lane 8, nosed ahead of France's Wilfred Happio by .02 seconds to take the bronze. 

Tuesday also happened to be the birthdate of Jud Logan, the larger-than-life Ashland coach and four-time Olympian who passed away Jan. 3 due to COVID complications. 

"I could feel something special was going to happen today," Bassitt said. "I just know he was with me for that whole race."

The world record holder and Olympic champion, Norway's Karsten Warholm, led three-quarters of the race but couldn't overcome his recent hamstring tear and faded to seventh. Warmholm hadn't lost a race since 2018. 

Bassitt, unsigned and writing his own workouts since the spring, knew he was up against three of the fastest men in history, but didn't flinch. 

Norway's other Olympic champion, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, was upset in the men's 1,500 meters by Great Britain's surprising Jake Wightman, who sped to a world-leading time of 3:29.23. 

Ingebrigtsen was kicking himself a bit for not pulling it out and settling for the silver. 

"I know that I'm better than silver," he said. "So I'm embarrassed for being this good, and also, this bad."

Spain's Mohamed Katir took bronze in 3:29.90 and another Spaniard, Mario Garcia Romo, took fourth in 3:30.20 and the Ole Miss standout and reigning NCAA Division 1 indoor mile champion broke the collegiate all-dates record held by Bernard Lagat. 

In an entertaining women's high jump competition, Australian Eleanor Patterson made a first-attempt clearance at 6-7.50 (2.02m) to move ahead of Ukraine's Yaroslava Mahuchikh and win the the gold. 

Mahuchikh, the World indoor champion, took the silver after making 6-7.50 on her second try. 

Both missed at 6-8.25 (2.04m). 

Italy's Elena Vallortigara was the only jumper with a clean sheet through 6-6.75 (2.00m) but took the bronze when she couldn't get over 6-7.50. 

In the men's discus, Kristjan Ceh from Slovakia threw a championships record 233-4 (71.13m) in the third round and was in the clear after that. 

Lithuania's Mykolas Alekna, the son of a two-time world champion and a 19-year-old freshman at Cal, took the silver medal with 227-3 (69.27m). 

Alekna's teammate, Andrius Gudzius, took the bronze at 221-7 (67.55m). 

In the 200-meter semifinals, Fred Kerley felt a tweak in his hamstring and finished sixth in his heat. Kerley slipped in his blocks on a practice start and spent several minutes re-setting them before the race. 

Noah Lyles ran 19.62 and 18-year-old Erriyon Knighton ran 19.77 in their semifinal heats and will meet for one of the most highly anticipated finals Thursday. 

Tamara Clark and Abby Steiner both made the final of the women's 200 meters, also on Thursday, but fellow American Jenna Prandini missed out by one spot. 

In the women's 400-meter hurdles, world record holder Sydney McLaughlin of the U.S., The Netherlands' Femke Bol, 2019 champion Dalilah Muhammad and NCAA Division 1 champion Britton Wilson all advanced to the semifinals.