THOUGH HE ALREADY had a World Championships gold medal to his credit and was the third-fastest man in history, Alison dos Santos has often been overshadowed in the 400H by Karsten Warholm and Rai Benjamin, winners of the last two Olympic titles. When he arrived in Zürich, the 26-year-old Brazilian was already well on his way to changing that narrative. He had won all his hurdles races this year, dominating Warholm head-to-head and boasting a world-leading 46.48. (Benjamin has only raced the event once this year, focusing on the flat 400 instead.)
Now, after a sensational 45.80 WR to win the Weltklasse race, dos Santos has officially solidified his status as the current king of the hurdles.
And while jaws dropped in the Letzigrund Stadium (and around the world), dos Santos himself was not terribly surprised with the performance. He saw signs early in the season that he had the potential to break the record, starting with the DL opener in Shaoxing, China in May, over 300m, running 33.01 to win a tight race against Warholm.
“After China, doing the 300, I was like, ‘OK, we’re training heavy. We’re doing a bunch of tempo runs, not really doing too much of speed [work],’ and being able to run [that fast] I was like, ‘OK, we’re cooking with that.’”
From there he won in Xiamen (46.72), Stockholm (47.11) and Oslo (46.89). He took a 400/400H double at the Brazilian Championships in July, clocking 44.60 and 46.48. (He had lowered his PR on the flat to 44.38 back in April.)
“I have been showing great form throughout the season, that I am fast, that I am strong,” he said.
When the DL season resumed, he continued his momentum with another convincing win over Warholm in Chorzów, 46.43–46.52. In his mind, the global standard had become a realistic goal. “After [Chorzów], we knew we had it. I did everything wrong in Silesia and I was able to run 46.4, so we knew that doing everything properly [meant] we could break the World Record.”
The strategy for Zürich involved beating Warholm, known for his aggressive starts, at his own game, by taking the race out hard. Dos Santos blitzed the first 150, quickly catching and passing the Norwegian, one lane to his outside, and establishing an insurmountable lead that only continued to grow throughout the race.
When he crossed the finish and the clock stopped at 45.80, the crowd exploded — an experience for the Brazilian that Warholm was deprived of when in an empty stadium during the pandemic he broke Kevin Young’s record that had stood for 29 years. Among those on hand to congratulate dos Santos was one of the event’s all-time greats, 2-time gold medalist Edwin Moses.
dos Santos has had an unlikely journey to the top. As a 10-month-old baby in his hometown of São Joaquim da Barra he was accidentally doused with scalding hot cooking oil, which permanently burned portions of his face, head and upper body. Insecure about the resulting scars, he eventually found confidence as a teenager through his success on the track.
He took bronze at the ’18 World U20 Championships, won the ’19 Pan-Am gold and then made the final at that year’s World Championships in Doha, placing 7th in a PR 48.28.
In ’21 he took a giant step forward and improved his PR to 46.72 to win bronze in the iconic Olympic final that Warholm won in a staggering 45.94 World Record.
“I ran 46.7, and that was faster than the previous World Record, but I was 3rd, and that was painful,” he says of the momentous Tokyo race. “Just knowing that I broke a World Record but two guys had run faster than me the same day was annoying. And I was like, ‘The next time that I break a World Record, I gotta make sure I cross the line first.’”
He continued his progression in ’22 when he lowered his PR to 46.29 to win the WC gold. In that title clash in Eugene Benjamin took silver and Warholm, coming back from injury, faded to 7th.
Warholm reclaimed his world title in Budapest in ’23 and Benjamin finally fulfilled his potential by winning the ’24 Olympics and the ’25 Worlds. Dos Santos earned another Olympic bronze in Paris.
Through the ups and downs of this historic rivalry dos Santos always brings his bubbly personality to the track, often dancing during prerace introductions. “Bringing my personality to the track is very important,” as he puts it. “The idea is to be able to inspire new people: with hair, with jewelry, with energy, with dance moves.”
While he’s been the star attraction this season, dos Santos welcomes Benjamin’s eventual return to the hurdles full time. “Nothing will change. I’ll keep doing my best. I’ll keep running fast. I’ll keep doing my thing, and we all do,” he says. “We’re all trying to do better. We all trying to improve. He’s doing his thing in the 400 [now]. We’re just trying our best.”
