As the fastest qualifier out of the semifinals, Warholm got to pick his lane. He chose Lane 6, just to the outside of Benjamin in Lane 5. Warholm prefers a more gradual curve of the track, he said, but it also meant that he would not be able to see Benjamin for much of the race, if at all. All Warholm could control was his effort. And he wanted to go out hard, he said, to create “stress” among the other runners.
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He could sense that he had succeeded coming out of the first turn when he began to make up the stagger on dos Santos and Abderrahman Samba of Qatar, both of whom he could spot to his outside.
“I knew I had gotten them out into a place where they didn’t want to be,” Warholm said. “I didn’t want to be there myself, because it hurts.”
Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Islands had to tell himself to stay composed against the likes of Warholm and Benjamin. Too often, he said, “if you go after them, it’s suicidal.”
Benjamin got off to a strong start but said he mistimed his steps before the fourth hurdle, a nearly imperceptible mistake that slowed his momentum and proved costly.
“This event is just so unforgiving,” he said.
Still, Benjamin appeared to be gaining on Warholm coming out of the final turn before Warholm found some energy in reserve. When his time flashed on the scoreboard, he ripped his jersey open and screamed.