Trinidad and Tobago’s Jereem “The Dream” Richards secured the bronze medal in the men’s 400 metres final at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest, Hungary on Saturday.
Running from lane two, the 32-year-old Richards crossed the finish line in 44.23 seconds to pocket US$40,000 and cap off an impressive season. This victory came just a week after he set a new national 400m record of 43.68 from lane eight to claim the silver medal at the Wanda Diamond League Finals in Brussels, Belgium.
”I felt great, glory to God,” said Richards following the race. “I was able to go out there and finish top three out of lane two. Lanes, I guess, don’t matter to me. Honestly, just glory to God in it. I didn’t really dedicate it per se to anyone, but I relied on God to give me strength throughout the entire race, and He did so. If I had to dedicate this race, glory to God for giving me the strength to be able to finish.”
Botswana’s world champion, 22-year-old Collen Kebinatshipi, lived up to his status as the 400m favourite. He stormed to the title while improving his national record to 43.39, securing sole ownership of fifth place on the world all-time list.
USA’s Rai Benjamin chased him over the finish line in 44.15 before turning his attention to the 400m hurdles alongside Richards.
Kebinatshipi lined up in Budapest as the Diamond League champion, fresh off a 43.40 performance in Brussels that originally moved him to joint fifth on the world all-time list. That was his third national record of the season, following his performances in Paris (43.54) and Monaco (43.44).
He improved again in Budapest—judging his race to perfection to dominate ahead of world and Olympic 400m hurdles champion Benjamin and Richards, who was the runner-up to Kebinatshipi in the Diamond League Final.
After his Diamond League win, Kebinatshipi stated his aim to surpass the world-leading time of 43.38 set by Samuel Ogazi at the NCAA Championships in June. To achieve that, he noted he could not afford to relax during the opening portion of the race.
Kebinatshipi clearly kept that strategy in mind as he blazed out of the blocks with aggressive intent. He remained well clear of his rivals as he eased off the final bend, cruising to victory to claim the US$150,000 winner’s prize, while Benjamin earned US$75,000.
All eyes were on the clock as he stopped it at 43.39, the race of his life, just 0.01 seconds off his targeted world-leading time.
Benjamin moved through the field to edge ahead in the closing stages, completing the first part of his Ultimate 400m and 400m hurdles double in 44.15. Richards—running in lane two, the same lane from which he secured world silver behind Kebinatshipi in Tokyo last year—finished 0.08 seconds back in third place ahead of USA’s Chris Bailey (44.27) and Great Britain’s Matt Hudson-Smith (44.28).
Looking ahead to his immediate off-season plans after a gruelling year on the track, Richards mentioned looking forward to “time with family and honestly just spending some time and relaxing, getting my mind off of track and field for a bit.”
However, the bronze medalist also issued a strong call to action for administrators at home regarding support for athletics.
”Let’s take track and field serious, please,” Richards urged. “Invest in sport; invest in track and field. We are the most successful sport in T&T.”
On Friday, in the first of two semifinals, Richards finished in fourth spot with a time of 44.44 to advance. Running from lane six, Richards had a solid start and led most of the way before being overtaken at the 300m mark by Kebinatshipi, who won the heat in 44.23.
The 2025 world indoor champion, Bailey, running from lane nine, took second place ahead of Rai Benjamin in lane eight. Both runners clocked 44.28, with Richards claiming fourth to secure his spot in the final.
The other finishers in the heat were Canada’s world indoor champion Christopher Williams (44.98), Botswana’s Bayapo Ndori (45.00), Zambia’s Muzala Samukonga (45.51), France’s Muhammad Abdallah Kounta (45.53), and Hungary’s Patrik Simon Enyingi (45.72).
The top four qualifiers from the second semifinal were USA’s Jacory Patterson (44.73), Great Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith (44.79), Botswana’s Lee Eppie (44.85), and Hungary’s Attila Molnar (44.97).
Walcott in men’s javelin final
Today, former Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott will face a star-studded eight-man javelin field contested over four rounds. The lineup is headed by world leader Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage of Sri Lanka—the recent Diamond League Final winner and Commonwealth Games champion who holds a breakthrough 92.62m mark this season. Also featured are European champion Julian Weber, the only other entrant to surpass 90m in 2026, and reigning Olympic titleholder Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan.
