Olympic and world 400m hurdles champion Rai Benjamin will open his 2026 Wanda Diamond League campaign in the 400m flat at the BAUHAUS-Galan in Stockholm on June 7.
A year on from his last victory there in the hurdles, Benjamin returns to the iconic Stockholm Stadium to take on a world-class 400m field that includes reigning Diamond League champion Jacory Patterson and Olympic silver medallist Matthew Hudson-Smith.
“I’ve always enjoyed competing at the BAUHAUS-galan in Stockholm. Last year there was an incredible atmosphere in the stadium. I’m looking forward to opening my Diamond League season in Stockholm over 400 metres,” he said.
The second fastest man ever behind world record holder Karsten Warholm, Benjamin has won every major title available and helped to revolutionise the 400m hurdles in recent years.
After claiming his first world title in Tokyo last year, he announced he would be shifting his focus to the 400m and 200m flat in 2026.
Stockholm will be a first major test on that journey, as the 29-year-old faces some of the finest 400m runners in the world.
Patterson is world number three and reigning series champion after he notched up three wins in four Diamond League appearances last season.
Great Britain’s Hudson-Smith came within a whisker of being crowned Olympic champion in 2024, only to be denied in a photo finish by US star Quincy Hall.
Norwood and Richards are also seasoned Diamond League campaigners, with a combined total of 69 appearances in athletics’ premier one-day series.
Benjamin’s only other Diamond League appearance in the 400m also came in Stockholm in 2019, when he finished second behind Michael Norman with 45.31.
Stockholm is the fifth leg of the 2026 Wanda Diamond League, which begins in Shanghai/Keqiao on May 16 and ends at the two-day series final in Brussels on September 4-5.
The series unites the biggest names in track and field in some of the world’s most iconic arenas, crossing four continents and 15 cities over the course of the season.
