Los Angeles: Olympic silver medalist Rai Benjamin won his first 400m hurdles of the season at the Los Angeles Grand Prix on Saturday as Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone prevailed in the 200m.
It was Benjamin’s first year before the US Olympic Trials, when he took an early lead, finishing 1.47 seconds ahead of Jamaica’s Roshawn Clark in 46.64 seconds.
World silver medalist Kyron McMaster of the Virgin Islands was third.
“I know the power is there,” Diamond League champion Benjamin told NBC. “I know I’m in 46th (second) … It seems pretty sweet, but (I want to do my race).”
American Anna Cockrell won the women’s race in 53.75, one second faster than Andrenette Knight of Jamaica, with compatriot Cassandra Tate third.
She led from the turn and eased the uncharacteristic distance in 22.32 seconds ahead of fellow American Abby Steiner.
“Just (training), getting used to the flow and getting out of the last couple quickly,” said the Olympic champion, who plans to compete in her signature event in the U.S. Trials. “Quick is always good.”
Dominican world champion Marielady Paulino continued her impressive form after two Diamond League victories this year, running the 400m in 50.27 seconds.
American Michael Norman accelerated at the halfway point to win the men’s 400m in 44.53, beating three-time Olympic medalist Kirani James of Grenada by more than a third of a second.
Norman, the 2022 world champion, was sidelined last year after struggling with injuries.
“That look rediscovered my rhythm,” he said. “I’m just trying to make some adjustments under the heavy load.”
South Africa’s Akani Simbine won the world 100m in 9.90 seconds at the Atlanta City Games on Saturday, while American Noah Lyles shone in the 150m.
Running on an artificial track, Simbine beat Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanya by one second, with American Kendal Williams third in 10.05.
The performance was three-hundredths of a second off the previous record set by American teenager Christian Miller in April. Atlanta organizers said the event is temporarily live and that the city is eschewing a traditional stadium to use part of the city’s Piedmont Park.
Lyles, the 100m and 200m world champion, was rarely lethal in the 150m, pulling away from the second round to take a quarter of the second lead from Great Britain’s Zharnel Hughes.
“I’m not depressed,” he told reporters there. “It makes a big difference. It makes a big difference. That’s why I’m pumped, I’m excited, I come out here – I’m excited when I see the fans.”
Lyles continued his 2024 schedule by winning the 100m at the Bermuda Grand Prix in April before heading to the World Relays in the Bahamas earlier this month.
