Paris Olympics: Can Wiseman Were dazzle on arguably the hottest race in Paris?

From the 2015 world champion Nicholas Bett to 2016 Olympic silver medalist Boniface Mucheru, Kenya has not been short of jaw-dropping performances in the 400m hurdles on the world stage. 

And as Commonwealth Games bronze medalist (4x400m relay) Wiseman Were lines up for the Paris Summer Games in the same discipline, he carries with him a nation's hope for another global medal. 

At the same Commonwealth Games, Were placed fourth in the final of the individual race and is eager to improve on that, on a much bigger global platform. 

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The 26-year-old Kenya Defence Forces champion noted that being a debutant and competing in arguably the hottest race in these Games does not bother him much as he is motivated by the pressure that comes with facing world class athletes. 

"On such a stage the pressure is always there but as we head to the Games, everything is set and I am confident I will produce great results. This is a dream come true. I want to leave a mark here,” he offered in a pre-race interview. 

Kenya did not have representatives in 400m hurdles at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics but had a full team of three at the 2016 Rio Summers Games; Mucheru, the late Bett and his brother Aron Koech.

Mucheru is the only medalist from the Olympics in the 400m hurdles but Were is confident of that changing.  

Were clocked a meet record of 48.57 to win the men’s 400m hurdles at this year's Kip Keino Classic and effectively met the qualifying mark for the Paris Games.

For Were who admits that his career did not have the greatest of starts ten years ago when he was forced to borrow running shoes and gear, at some point being encouraged to quit or change distances, going up against a World clash field is a massive feat. 

The 400m hurdles has been touted as the most competitive race in Paris as it currently has three kings.

Norway’s Karsten Warholm is the Tokyo Olympic champion, three-time world champion and world record-holder but the 28-year-old is under more pressure than ever to keep his crown. He may need to break his own world record to hold on to the title.

The challengers are US record-holder Rai Benjamin, the Tokyo silver medallist, and Brazil’s 2022 world champion Alison dos Santos.

Benjamin won the only race between the three men this year at the Monaco Diamond League meeting, from Warholm and Dos Santos.

But the Brazilian bounced back to win the final lead-up race to the Games, at the London meeting, in the absence of the two others.

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Benjamin holds the world lead from the US trials (46.46), ahead of Dos Santos, who set his fastest time (46.63) in defeating Warholm (46.70) in front of his home crowd in Oslo.

There is no doubt that the event is at a historical high water mark, with three generational talents. Between them, they hold the fastest 17 times in history, and 24 of the top 25.

Warholm needed a world record to beat Benjamin in Tokyo (45.94) and the winner in Paris may well need to better that standard.

Outside the trio those expected to join the medal hunt include world silver medalist Kyron McMaster of British Virgin Islands, the Jamaican duo of Malik James-King and Roshawn Clarke, Italian Alessandro Sibilio and perhaps French champion Wilfried Happio.

Additional information by World Athletics