Rai Benjamin Coach

American professional hurdler and sprinter Rai Benjamin was born on July 27, 1997, with a focus on the 400 m and 400 m hurdles. Notably, he is the second-fastest man in history with a 400-meter hurdles personal best time of 46.17 s. Moreover, Benjamin has won gold medals across the Olympic Games and World Championships, specially in the 4×100 m relay categories. On the other hand, he earned silver medals across the 400 m hurdles at the same competitions.

Throughout his collegiate career, Benjamin competed for the USC Trojans and the UCLA Bruins. In the indoor 4 × 400 m relay, he helped the Trojans break a world record with a time of 3:00.77 in early 2018. He also set a record for the quickest relay split time in an indoor race at the time, 44.35 seconds. Furthermore, Benjamin also ran what was then the second-fastest 400-meter hurdles race in history in 47.02 seconds in June of that same year, helping to set the NCAA record in the same event but outside.

Who is Rai Benjamin's coach?

Joanna Hayes is Rai Benjamin's coach as of April 2024. Notably, Joanna Hayes was born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, on December 23, 1976 and won gold in the 100-meter hurdles at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Presently, she also serves as assistant coach of University of Southern California’s sprints and hurdles team. Moreover, she has also trained Sydney McLaughlin, a 400m hurdle world record holder.

For her contributions to the sport, she was inducted by the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame on October 11, 2014.

Joanna Hayes’s Athletic Career

Joanna Hayes attended John W. North High School in Riverside, California where she was named “High School Athlete of the Year”, by Track and Field News for winning the 100m and 300m hurdles at the CIF California State Meet in 1995. Notably she also set a meet record while competing in the 100m hurdles.

Soon after graduating from highschool, Hayes enrolled herself at University of California, Los Angeles and earned a bachelor's degree in sociology while also breaking records on the college and national levels. Remarkably, she initially focused on the 400-metre hurdles and captured the NCAA 400m hurdles title as a senior in 1999. She also helped in leading the Bruins to three consecutive Pac-10 team titles from 1997-99 and two consecutive runner-up finishes at the NCAA Outdoor Championships from 1998-99. Her other notable achievements while playing for the UCLA Bruins include, winning a total of seven Pac-10 titles in the hurdles and relays and six All-American honors.

However, her biggest moment came at the 2004 Summer Olympics, where she won a gold medal in the 100m hurdles. The previous year, at the Pan American Games, she won a gold medal in the 400m hurdles event. Following her triumph at the Olympics, she started competing internationally in 100m hurdles and went on to finish 4th at the 2004 Indoor Championships and winning the 2004 IAAF Athletics Final toward the end of the season. Moving forward to the 2005 World Championships, she was considered as one of the favorites to triumph at the women's 100m hurdles, however, she failed to finish after stumbling in the race.

Joanna Hayes’s Coaching Career

Joanna Hayes has been serving as USC's assistant sprints and hurdles coach since July 2016 and has been with the Trojans for eight seasons, first as an assistant coach and then as a volunteer coach. A glimpse of her coaching career can be seen below throughout. Notably, she also led many of athletes to many notable honors, which has further helped in establishing her name as one of the most sought-after coaches in India.

2023 Season

Joanna Hayes was honored as the 2023 United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's (USTFCCA) West Region Men’s Indoor Coach of the Year for her efforts in coaching Johnny Brackins Jr. and Tade Ojora in the 60-meter hurdles for the Trojans at the Indoor Championships. Moreover, Ojora and Brackins gained many notable honors under Haynes.

Hayes also led Jalaysiya Smith and Allie Jones to the Trojans’ all-time Top 10 in the 100m Hurdles, and Jasmine Jones and Allie’s development in the 400m Hurdles was instrumental in the Trojans’ heptathlon, where they broke the USC Heptathlon record and posted the second-best ever pentathlon score by a Trojan.

2022 Season

Under the guidance of Joanna Hayes, Jasmine Jones, a sophomore, ran the fourth-fastest women's 100-meter hurdles time and finished second at the NCAA Championships.

Freshman Jalaysiya Smith also advanced to the NCAA semifinals, climbing to seventh on USC's all-time 100-meter hurdles list. Jones won the 2022 Pac-12 100m hurdles championship, with Smith finishing sixth. Hayes also helped Smith win the University/College Open 100m hurdles and Simmons 400m hurdles titles at the Texas Relays.

2021 Season

During the 2021 season, Joanna Hayes assisted the USC 400m hurdlers with their workouts and race strategies. Furthermore, Anna Cockrell won both the NCAA 100m hurdles and 400m hurdles crowns, while Cameron Samuel finished third at the NCAA Championships, earning All-America honors. They both won 2021 Pac-12 crowns in their respective events.

2018 Season

Notably, The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association named Hayes the 2018 West Region Women's Track Assistant Coach of the Year. This was as a result of Trojans winning the Pac-12 Championships, scoring 30 points to help secure the title.

Hayes also helped Anna Cockrell win the Pac-12 title in the 400m hurdles, advancing her and Shante Robinson to the NCAA Championships. Moreover, Hayes worked on technique with the men's 400m hurdlers, assisting Trojan Sprinters, who established a school record of 42.57 seconds in the Mt. SAC Relays.

2017 Season

In 2017, Joanna Hayes led the Trojans to five All-American honors across the outdoor and indoor seasons. Her work with Anna Cockrell helped her earn indoor and outdoor All-American honors in the 60- and 400-meter hurdles. Cockrell set USC freshman records in both events.

2014-16 Season

Hayes served as an assistant sprint and hurdles coach at UCLA from 2014–16, Joanna Hayes helped the Bruins earn multiple All-American honors in the hurdles and 4x100 relay.

Hayes had previously served as a track and field coach at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles for six seasons, as well as at Brentwood Middle School in 2003.

Images of Joanna Hayes and Rai Benjamin