My first interview with Rai Benjamin was after the 2019 World Championships, the place Rai took the silver within the 400m hurdles and gold within the 4×400 meters. His story there was fascinating. He had endured some accidents, and he someway made it to Doha in a single piece and competed to the very best of his means.
This interview was executed in March 2023. As prior to now six pre-pandemic years, International Athletics & Advertising had the forethought to place collectively a pair days of interviews for among the monitor & subject’s international media. Twenty-six athletes gave interviews to a bunch of recent, veteran, and not-so-veteran media. Some media had been making ready for textual content tales, audio, and video, and a few, like RunBlogRun, with a mixture of shows.
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In that gentle, we ask you to observe the interview of Rai Benjamin.
On March 8-9, 2023, I interviewed 25 athletes from International Athletics. You’ll start to see them pop up on our websites, FB, Twitter, and IG. We’ll present video variations, audio variations, and textual content variations. Why? As a result of our readers digest media in various manners, even on the identical day.
Rai Benjamin has had a busy three years. After I spoke with Rai in March 2023, we had not chatted since 2019. I requested Rai to supply some context concerning the Tokyo 2021 Olympics, the Eugene 2022 World Championships, and his present state of well being and health.
What resulted is without doubt one of the most poignant and trustworthy interviews I’ve witnessed in my practically 40 years as a journalist.
My interviews are fairly natural. I exploit a technique identified affectionately because the Brian Lenton methodology. Brian is a fantastic Australian journalist who captured the golden period of Australian marathoning: Chris Wardlaw, Rob De Castella, Steve Monaghetti, in addition to John Landy, Ron Clarke, Brendan Foster, and Invoice Rodgers, amongst others. In most interviews, Lenton threw a six-pack of an grownup beverage on the desk, and the discuss went the place it went.
Eugene, Oregon, USA
July 15-26 2022, photograph by Kevin Morris
I ought to name my methodology the developed Lenton methodology. No booze, and sure, tons of studying previous to the interview, however the interview grows organically. On this case, with Rai, he’s clearly snug with an interview. Rai is aware of I like the game, and he is aware of the questions may have him method an occasion differently, maybe than he has earlier than.
My plan was to attempt to admire the challenges offered to Rai Benjamin in 2021 and 2022 with sickness, damage and the challenges of being one of many two best athletes on this planet in your occasion.
In one of many questions, chances are you’ll discover it a bit garbled. The reality is that this, Rai was so trustworthy, and this author discovered that to be a really emotional expertise. Honesty, at the present time, isn’t generally discovered. On this author’s estimation, Rai Benjamin is on a journey to see simply how good he actually is, and that has nothing to do together with his greatest 400-meter hurdle time.
I consider that it’s one in every of Rai’s greatest efforts.
Benefit from the interview. When an athlete and a author can mix for a standard objective, that’s, for this author, like working a near-perfect race.
I’ve to be trustworthy with you. My statement of Rai Benjamin is that this. In his personal time, he’ll change into the best 400-meter hurdler the world has ever seen. However, it’s his journey.
And he has many ten-hurdle races (to paraphrase poet Robert Frost) to go earlier than he sleeps.
I met with Rai Benjamin proper after his 400-meter hurdle race in Doha, Qatar. Catching his breath, Rai instructed me, ” Look, I’ve simply had COVID once more, I took every week off, and I’m jet lagged.” He ran a 47.78 to carry off a PB working CJ Allen, who ran 47.93.
“I can be racing the LA Grand Prix in three weeks and hope to run a lot sooner.”
And that’s the reason I’m on a airplane on Might 24 to observe the USATF LA Grand Prix.
I need to see Rai Benjamin run very quick over the 400-meter hurdles.
Particular because of Mike Deering for the post-interview manufacturing of the Interview.
