Here’s what actually went down in the men’s 400m hurdles final at the 2025 World Athletics Championships — a dramatic story of victory, disqualification, appeal and reinstatement involving Rai Benjamin. 🇺🇸

The Race & The Win

• Rai Benjamin crossed the line first with a season-best time of 46.52 seconds, finally securing his first individual world title in the 400m hurdles.

He had previously earned silvers and a bronze in past World Championships. (SuperSport)

• Behind him came Alison dos Santos (Brazil) in 46.84s (silver) and Abderrahman Samba (Qatar) in 47.06s (bronze). (SuperSport)

• Nigerian hurdler Ezekiel Nathaniel finished fourth, with a Nigerian record in 47.11s. (UPI)

The Disqualification Scare

• Immediately after the finish, officials flagged a possible rules violation: Benjamin had clipped the 10th (final) hurdle in his lane.

• His collision caused that hurdle to dislodge and shift into the lane beside him — that of Ezekiel Nathaniel. (Runner’s World)

• Because of that, Benjamin was temporarily disqualified under rule TR22.6.3(D) (a World Athletics rule about “displacing a hurdle thus impacting another athlete”).

• The disqualification meant Benjamin would lose the win unless successfully challenged. (Runner’s World)

The Appeal & Reversal

• Benjamin, along with U.S. officials, lodged an appeal.

• World Athletics reviewed the incident via video and found that while Benjamin did knock the hurdle (and it then touched the neighboring lane’s hurdle), it did not materially impede the rival athlete (Nathaniel) or alter the outcome of the race. (NBC Sports)

• With those findings, the disqualification was overturned. Benjamin was reinstated as the champion, the official results confirmed, and the medals set as originally crossed the line. (Reuters)

Key Players’ Reactions

• Rai Benjamin expressed relief, saying “when that fatigue sets in …” the last hurdle becomes dangerous.

He admitted he clipped it because of fatigue, that ever-present component in a grueling 400m hurdle race. (Runner’s World)

• Ezekiel Nathaniel (Nigeria) said he didn’t feel he was significantly affected by the shifted hurdle, and accepted the final decision as fair. (Runner’s World)

• Alison dos Santos (Brazil), though finishing second, also supported the reinstatement, noting that Benjamin hadn’t done anything wrong under the rules once the review was done. (WJXT)

Why It Mattered

• It was not just a case of crossing the line first: this win represents a milestone for Benjamin — world gold after years of near-misses. (SuperSport)

• The rules around hurdling are tight. Knocking down one’s own hurdle is normally allowed, but if that action displaces a hurdle in another lane and that displacement impacts another athlete, it can justify disqualification. The nuance “impact” was central in this case. (Runner’s World)