Credit: Unsplash

Karsten Warholm and Rai Benjamin both broke the previous record.

Yesterday, during the 400m Men’s Hurdles event at the Tokyo Olympics, Norway’s Karsten Warholm and the United States’ Rai Benjamin faced off in what may have been one of the most intense one-on-one races in the history of the Olympics. The two men were neck and neck for almost the entire thing, clearing hurdles like it was baked into their very souls. At the very end, Warholm took gold while Benjamin took silver, but not only were there only milliseconds separating the two, they both broke the previous Men’s Hurdles record.

The previous record, set by Warholm himself at the Diamond Meet in June, was 46.70 seconds. This record was smashed by both Warholm, with a final time of 45.94 seconds, and Benjamin, with a final time of 46.17 seconds. Even the bronze medalist of the event, Alison dos Santos of Brazil, came close to breaking the record as well, with a final time of 46.72.

When Warholm and Benjamin crossed the finish line, they were both absolutely ecstatic. Warholm, in particular, let out a celebratory whoop and tore his running uniform in half. “Sometimes in training, my coaches keep telling me this could be possible with the perfect race,” Warholm said. “But it was hard to imagine it because it’s a big barrier, and it’s something you don’t even dream about.”

WORLD RECORD‼️

Norway's Karsten Warholm breaks his OWN world record to win gold in the men's 400m hurdles and @TeamUSA's Rai Benjamin wins the silver. #TokyoOlympics

📺 NBC
💻 https://t.co/ZOFdXC4e4u
📱 NBC Sports App pic.twitter.com/lPSNrv2Qoo

— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) August 3, 2021

While not quite as manic, Benjamin was equally proud of his performance, calling it the “best race in Olympic history” and writing his loss off as “the nature of the beast.”

“If you would’ve told me that I was going to run 46.1 and lose, I would probably beat you up and tell you to get out of my room,” Benjamin said after the race. “I’m happy to be part of history.”