Olympic Games 400m hurdles silver medallist Rai Benjamin says breaking Norwegian counterpart Karsten Warholm’s world record is a possibility at the World Athletics Championships this summer.

Benjamin’s greatest battle with Warholm took place two years ago at the Tokyo Olympic Games in the 400m hurdles final, which many say is one of the greatest races of all time. There Benjamin ran a would-be world record of 46.17 seconds if not for Warholm’s clocking of 45.94s.

American Benjamin ran a season’s best 46.62s to become the American national champion in July while carrying a quad injury since the start of the year. He credits Munich, Germany-based Dr Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt for helping him with treatment for a spacing issue with his SI joint [which links his pelvis and lower spine], which has caused a femoral nerve issue. Müller-Wohlfahrt is also known for working with Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt, Bayern Munich Football Club, and the Germany senior men’s football team.

Although his treatment is ongoing, Benjamin is not fazed by Warholm, the world leader this year with a time of 46.51s. He says that he has studied Warholm’s running patterns and he and his Coach Quincy Watts believe him to be beatable.

“It’s something we’ve been talking about these last couple of days here,” Benjamin said while speaking on the Antigua Observer’s Good Morning Jojo Sports Show recently. “I wouldn’t necessarily say he has a weakness, to be honest. Anyone that runs the way he runs, it’s very committed running from start to finish. I think the difference is getting in it early.

“If you see any race that he’s been a part of, once you’re in it early, it’s kind of a different outcome coming home that last 100m. He runs in lane seven all year, loves the outside lane, and doesn’t want to see anyone, but I feel like if you can be there at hurdles five and six, which I 100 per cent know I can be, then it’s a different outcome coming home.”

Benjamin is aware that he cannot only rely on a flaw on Warholm’s part as he too has to be technically sound going over the hurdles. But he says he is always aware of when he has an opponent beaten during a race.

“You can tell coming off hurdle eight going into nine and 10 if you have somebody beaten,” he said. “I always say you don’t get any faster. No one ever gets any faster in the last 100m of a race. It’s about who can slow down the slowest. If I feel like my cadence is consistent and I have a good stride pattern, and I’m not chopping hurdles, those last two hurdles, then I know for a fact that I have the race in the bag. But if you’re chopping hurdles and you get off the last hurdle and you start pressing for the line and start falling over, that’s when you can kind of tell that this person really isn’t that composed.”

Benjamin says he is aware of comments on the internet that he is avoiding facing Warholm before Budapest as he pulled out of a number of meets since. But he says this was because of a flare-up of the injury which forced him to return to Germany for treatment. He says that had he kept competing, especially at the recent Monaco Diamond League meet, he would have been in a worse condition heading into the World Championships.

Although Benjamin is focused on Warholm’s performance, he is also mindful of the defending world champion Alison dos Santos of Brazil, who has a season’s best of 47.66s and a personal best of 46.29s, which brought him gold in Oregon last year.

Heats in the men’s 400m hurdles event start on Sunday, August 20 at 4:25 am Jamaica time, with the final on Wednesday, August 23 at 2:50 pm Jamaica time.