Masai Russell Breaks 100m Hurdles World Record

American Masai Russell has set a new world record in the 100m hurdles, adding it to her Olympic gold medal achievements. She completed the race in 12.09 seconds at a Diamond League meet in Zurich, Switzerland. This time shaves three hundredths of a second off the previous world record held by Nigerian Tobi Amusan, who set it during the 2022 World Championships. Amusan finished second in the Thursday race with a time of 12.23 seconds.

Russell, aged 26 and originally from Washington, D.C., had previously recorded the second- and third-fastest times in history, running 12.14 seconds in May 2026 and 12.17 seconds in May 2025. In August 2025, she also matched the fourth-fastest time ever at 12.19 seconds. After setting the world record, Russell made a shushing gesture, later explaining, “I see what people say online. People doubted me and suggested my personal best would never exceed 12.14. I am eager to respond to that by proving them wrong.”

Remarkably, Russell achieved her world record with no wind assistance, enhancing the feat’s significance. While Amusan has run the fastest time in any conditions at 12.06 seconds during the 2022 World Championships, this was aided by a 2.5 meter/second tailwind, beyond the 2.0 limit for world records. Russell remarked, “If I had a 1.9 wind behind me, I might have run sub-12.” She expressed confidence in potentially breaking the 12-second barrier, stating, “Everything I aimed for has happened, so why not be the first to run sub-12?”

Russell is the first woman since Bulgarian Yordanka Donkova to pair Olympic gold with a world record in the 100m hurdles. Donkova won Olympic gold in 1988 and held the world record until American Keni Harrison surpassed it in 2016. Russell and Harrison are the only U.S. women to hold the 100m hurdles world record. Ja’Kobe Tharp remains the only American man to hold a world record in an individual running event on the Olympic program.