DOUBLE Olympic champion Rai Benjamin of the United States says in spite of the rivalry between them and Jamaica in athletics, he has nothing but respect for the Caribbean nation.

Jamaica’s rivalry with the USA in athletics has lasted decades, and escalated this summer during the Paris Olympics, especially because of recent events and persons related to the men’s and women’s 100m sprints.

Jamaica, who swept the Women’s 100m Final at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, had no medals this time. Medal favourite Shericka Jackson pulled out of the event before the first round and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, another medal contender, pulled out of the semi-final with an injury sustained during warm-up.

Jamaica has not won a men’s sprint title since its icon and fastest man ever, Usain Bolt, won the 100m-200m double at the Rio Olympics in 2016. But many felt that would change this summer with the emergence of MVP Track and Field Club’s Kishane Thompson, who ran a world-leading 9.77 seconds at Jamaica’s National Trials in June. His main rival was seen as the USA’s Noah Lyles, who added contention to the rivalry this summer by sharing on a podcast that his girlfriend, Junelle Bromfield, a Jamaican 400m runner, discusses matters regarding Jamaica’s affairs with him privately.

From right: Italy’s Lamont Marcell Jacobs, Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, USA’s Noah Lyles, Jamaica’s Oblique Seville, South Africa’s Akani Simbine, Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson, USA’s Fred Kerley, and USA’s Kenneth Bednarek compete in the Men’s 100m Final of the athletics event at the Paris Olympic Games at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, France, on Sunday, August 4. (Photo: AFP)

Lyles beat Thompson by four thousandths of a second to take the gold medal in Paris, in the closest 100m final race in Olympics history.

Benjamin added to the controversy later that day by tweeting, “TL (timeline) QUIET!!!!!”, adding two laughing emojis and six US flags. Jamaican fans responded with hostility.

But Benjamin says he is not upset about any of it.

“I understand it, you know,” he said with a chuckle during an interview on Antigua Observer’s Good Morning Jojo sporting highlights show. “When you guys have dominated the space for so many years — and when I say dominate I mean Usain, Asafa [Powell]… I saw Asafa the other night. We went out, me and Noah. I gave Asafa his flowers, and I said ‘Asafa, listen — you’re in my top five of all time.’ He and his wife were there. We had a good time.

“But when you dominate the space for so long you have respect for the greats — Bolt, Asafa, Yohan [Blake], Nesta Carter, all those guys — you have real, real respect for them. I feel like when you have Noah coming in and being the showman that he is, and saying ‘XYZ’, then Kishane popping up on the scene, you have some American counterparts saying, ‘Noah’s gonna beat Kishane…,’”

Benjamin said he was impressed by Thompson’s performances this summer but that would not have stopped him from supporting his teammate.

“For a minute, when he [Thompson] ran that 9.77 at trials, I was like, ‘Damn, this kid is different.’ And he ran 9.77 and shut it down,” he said. “To hear the banter online, for me it was more so like, ‘That’s [Lyles] my teammate.’ I’m not really feeding into who ran fast when and where — you gotta do it on that day.

“So, for me, it was more of just me supporting my teammate — not necessarily diminishing the accomplishments of anyone else. We’re at the Olympics, I have the flag on, and anyone else that’s wearing the flag, I’m going to support. That’s really what it boils down to. I knew in a situation like that, Noah thrives; he thrives in big situations. Towards the end I was like, ‘Alright, we might win this thing.’ ”

Benjamin is able to reflect on the tweets with a laugh.

“When he won I put a tweet out and man, I got torn up! Honestly,” he said.

Benjamin, the son of former West Indies bowler Winston Benjamin, of Antigua and Barbuda, won gold in the Men’s 400m Hurdles Olympic final, beating world record holder Karsten Warholm of Norway. He followed it up with gold, anchoring the USA to an Olympic record time of 2:54.43 minutes in the Men’s 4x400m Relay Final.

USA’s Rai Benjamin celebrates after winning the Men’s 400m Hurdles Final at the Paris Olympic Games on Friday, August 9.