"The men's 400H will be one of the closest Olympic races"- Fans react as Rai Benjamin defeats world record holder Karsten Warholm in Monaco 

Rai Benjamin has impressed fans with his performance in the Men's 400m hurdles at the Monaco Diamond Lague, weeks before the coveted Paris Olympics 2024. The American athlete clocked 46.67s to defeat world record holder Karsten Warholm and win the title.

Benjamin has been holding on to great momentum in the 2024 season as he eyes the gold medal at the upcoming Olympic Games. He dominated the pack in the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials to qualify for his second Olympics.

Weeks before the Games, Rai Benjamin went head-to-head against his biggest competitors Karsten Warholm and Alison Dos Santos at the Monaco Diamond League and emerged victorious in a close finish to clinch the title. Warholm stood second after clocking 46.73s and Dos Santos finished third with a time of 47.18s.

The incredible performance by the three athletes impressed fans, who took to X to express their thoughts about the competition at the upcoming Olympics in Paris.

"The men's 400H will be one of the closest Olympic races, with an Olympic 🥇 on the line between 3 legit contenders. We'll also get the chance to potentially see more than one man break 46 seconds in the same race," wrote a fan.

"Olympics bout to be so lit 😮‍💨 these 3 beEN GOING AT it over last few years,"another fan chimed in.

"What a race. I like Rai’s race distribution. I think he is on to something,"tweeted a fan.

Here are some more fan reactions:

"@kwarholm got passed when he stutter-stepped to 15-step the final hurdle (others were the usual 13). While he did the same thing when he smashed the world record, it seems like he'd benefit from getting comfortable with the other leg and 14-stepping when he slows down at the end," wrote a fan.

" Let’s go!!!! I really want Rai to win this Gold in Paris," another fan chimed in.

"Man, Paris is going to be so fun," wrote a fan.

Rai Benjamin opens up on running the World Lead in his first race of the Olympic season

Team USA Olympic Portrait Shoot

Rai Benjamin clocked the world lead in his 400m hurdles season-opener at the USATF LA Grand Prix with a time of 46.64s. He spoke to Citus Magazine about his performance and said:

"Pretty good, just happy to get the first one out the way and actually run fast and trust my ability to run fast. Ran 44.4 pretty easy a couple of weeks ago so other Fitness is there, it's just a matter of getting the Rhythm down and just saying to myself, all right, just go for it."

Rai Benjamin is all set to compete in Paris in a quest for his first Olympic gold medal.