My first interview with Rai Benjamin was after the 2019 World Championships, where Rai took the silver in the 400m hurdles and gold in the 4×400 meters. His story there was fascinating. He had endured some injuries, and he somehow made it to Doha in one piece and competed to the best of his ability.
This interview was done in March 2023. As in the past six pre-pandemic years, Global Athletics & Marketing had the forethought to put together a couple days of interviews for some of the track & field’s global media. Twenty-six athletes gave interviews to a group of new, veteran, and not-so-veteran media. Some media were preparing for text stories, audio, and video, and some, like RunBlogRun, with a combination of presentations.
RunBlogRun sincerely believes that a media rich in diversity is key to the success of our sport. For example, the various approaches to bespoke track meets during the pandemic and the incredible diversity in the streaming video have enriched our sport.
RunBlogRun has been, since 2006, most fortunate to work with over 40 writers and photographers, bringing new views into the sport, but also on a platform that gives the most enthusiastic of media a global platform.
We are not People magazine. We do not track gossip; we use social media to share our stories, photo galleries, and commentary on the sport.
In that light, we ask you to watch the interview of Rai Benjamin.
On March 8-9, 2023, I interviewed 25 athletes from Global Athletics. You will begin to see them pop up on our sites, FB, Twitter, and IG. We will provide video versions, audio versions, and text versions. Why? Because our readers digest media in diverse manners, even on the same day.
Rai Benjamin has had a busy three years. When I spoke with Rai in March 2023, we had not chatted since 2019. I asked Rai to provide some context about the Tokyo 2021 Olympics, the Eugene 2022 World Championships, and his current state of health and fitness.
What resulted is one of the most poignant and honest interviews I have witnessed in my nearly 40 years as a journalist.
My interviews are quite organic. I use a method known affectionately as the Brian Lenton method. Brian is a fine Australian journalist who captured the golden era of Australian marathoning: Chris Wardlaw, Rob De Castella,…
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