Olympic champion claims 400m hurdles world title after ruling is reversed, while Bol adds another honour to her list.

The men’s and women’s 400m hurdles finals at the world championships in Tokyo on Friday night (September 19) proved to be very contrasting affairs. 

There was drama in the men’s race as Rai Benjamin at first appeared to have added world gold to his Olympic success from last year. However, as the American donned a golden crown and celebrated on the track, he was informed that he had been disqualified after hitting the final hurdle.

The reason given for the ruling was that he had caused the hurdle to move the left, and seemingly impeding Ezekiel Nathaniel. Just as that news was sinking in, though, the decision was reviewed and he was then told shortly afterwards that he had been reinstated. Replays show it had not altered the Nigerian's path to the finish line, a judgement that he himself agreed with.

And so it was that Benjamin had indeed come out on top in 46.52 ahead of Alison dos Santos (46.84) and Abderrahman Samba (47.06). Defending champion Karsten Warholm (47.58) finished out of the medals in fifth as Nathaniel's national record of 47.11 gave him fourth.

This was a triumphant return to Tokyo for the American, who had had to settle for silver at the 2021 Olympics behind Warholm's astonishing world record 45.94. This time, it was Benjamin who looked the sharper from the off, the Norwegian hitting hurdle three and not appearing to be at his usual marauding best.

Instead it was do Santos and the 2022 world champion Samba who were trying to apply the pressure, but Benjamin had established such a big gap on the opposition that not even his faltering finish could deny him the prize he had come for.

"It feels great," said Benjamin, who revealed that he plans to switch to the 200m and 400m next year. "A complete reversal on what happened here in 2021. I am glad I finally got the job done. I got another individual medal under my belt, for which I am extremely proud."

Of the disqualification, he added: "We were sitting down near the elimination chairs, ironically, and [Alison] dos Santos told me the referees were reviewing the race, and that it was about me being disqualified. But it was all fine in the end. 

"I knew I could win the race. It was just matter of holding on. Unfortunately, I got really greedy in the end and that's why I hit the last hurdle."

Warholm had been going in search of a fourth world title, and had set the world lead of 46.28 at the Silesia Diamond League meeting last month, but the reason for his below-par performance had soon become clear.

"I had something happen when I got out of the blocks, like a little strain in my left thigh," he said. "I don't know if it's a hamstring or knee. Trying to hurdle with it wasn't good. I also crashed the third hurdle. I tried to push but it was just a terrible race. A disaster. I knew I was good and that's why this outcome is disappointing."

The women’s final was far more serene as Femke Bol convincingly defended her world title in a world-leading 51.54 from Jasmine Jones’ PB of 52.08 and the national record-breaking 53.00 from Emma Zapletalova of the Slovak Republic.

The Dutchwoman might make it look simple but a huge amount of hard work came to fruition as she lived up to being the favourite, a role that was thrust upon her following Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone's decision to focus on the flat 400m.

"The race always starts hard for me but I know my strong points," said Bol, the only woman in the world to have run quicker than 52 seconds this summer. "We worked really hard on this and I got this pretty comfortably. This is my second gold medal in a row which makes me really proud. This means the world to me.

"At these world championships I had to keep my title. I am proud of myself and my team for doing it. This year we tried to change some things in training to get better at finishing the race. I really improved myself with that.

"Today I was pushing and cruising. The last 100m was the best I've had all season, that is what was special today. I always try to keep focusing on my execution. I was focused on myself and running for my life until I made it through the line."