American hurdler Masai Russell on Thursday shattered Nigerian sprint hurdler Tobi Amusan’s four-year-old world record in the women’s 100m hurdles, stopping the clock at 12.09 seconds at the Zurich Diamond League. World Athletics, in its report of the meeting, said the Olympic champion delivered a “flawless run” to lower Amusan’s……
American hurdler Masai Russell on Thursday shattered Nigerian sprint hurdler Tobi Amusan’s four-year-old world record in the women’s 100m hurdles, stopping the clock at 12.09 seconds at the Zurich Diamond League.
World Athletics, in its report of the meeting, said the Olympic champion delivered a “flawless run” to lower Amusan’s 12.12-second mark by 0.03 seconds.
Amusan finished second in a season’s best of 12.23 seconds, while Netherlands’ European champion Nadine Visser took third in 12.34 seconds, according to the global governing body.
Russell’s stunning performance made her the new world record holder, American record holder and the fastest woman ever over the 100m hurdles.
World Athletics’ statistics list the 12.09 seconds as the current world record, achieved at Zurich’s Letzigrund stadium on August 27, 2026.
Who is Masai Russell?
Born on June 17, 2000, Russell is a 26-year-old American athlete from Upper Marlboro, Maryland, who specialises in the 100m hurdles.
World Athletics describes her as an Olympic champion and currently ranks her No. 1 in the world in the women’s 100m hurdles. Before her record-breaking display, Russell had already established herself among the leading athletes in the discipline.
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Her emergence on the global stage reached a defining point at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where she captured gold in the women’s 100m hurdles.
Following her Olympic triumph, World Athletics described Russell as a fighter and highlighted the steady progression that had taken her into the upper tier of the sport.
From college star to Olympic champion
Russell attended the University of Kentucky, where she enjoyed an outstanding collegiate career.
According to Kentucky Athletics, she became an 11-time All-American while competing in the 100m hurdles, 400m hurdles and relay events.
Her achievements included NCAA silver medals in the 100m hurdles, 400m hurdles and 4x100m relay in 2023. She also finished runner-up in the NCAA Indoor 60m hurdles and won the SEC Indoor 60m hurdles title, UK Athletics reported.
Russell also set the collegiate 100m hurdles record in 2023, clocking 12.36 seconds at the Texas Relays, according to Kentucky Athletics.
Her performances earned her a place among the semifinalists for The Bowerman, an award given to the leading collegiate track and field athlete in the United States.
She had already set her sights on Amusan’s record
Russell’s Zurich world record came after several indications that Amusan’s mark was under serious threat.
In May 2026, Russell clocked 12.14 seconds in Xiamen, China, moving to within two hundredths of Amusan’s 12.12 world record.
At the time, World Athletics described the performance as the second-fastest 100m hurdles run in history and said Russell had established herself as the second-fastest athlete ever in the event.
The performance was also an American record and a Diamond League record.
With Amusan’s mark still intact, Russell had made it clear that the Nigerian’s world record was within her sights.
The record finally falls in Zurich
At the Zurich Diamond League on Thursday, Russell completed the job.
World Athletics reported that the American had twice come close to the world record during the year before finally breaking it in Switzerland.
She produced 12.09 seconds with a legal wind reading of 0.0m/s, taking three hundredths off Amusan’s previous mark.
Russell said she immediately realised the significance of her performance when she saw the time.
“When I saw 12.09, I got so emotional,” she said.
World Athletics quoted Russell as saying she had dreamed about breaking the record for a long time and believed Zurich was the perfect setting to achieve it.
Amusan, meanwhile, was not a spectator to the historic moment.
She was competing in the same race.
The Nigerian finished second in 12.23 seconds, securing her season’s best time.
The result made the race even more significant, as Amusan was on the track when Russell finally surpassed the record she had held since 2022.
How Amusan set the world record
Amusan established herself in the history books at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Oregon, United States.
She clocked 12.12 seconds in the semi-final, with a legal tailwind of 0.9m/s, to break the existing world record.
She went on to win the world title.
Amusan then produced an even faster 12.06 seconds in the final, but the performance could not be recognised as a world record because the +2.5m/s wind reading exceeded the permitted limit.
Her 12.12-second semi-final time was subsequently ratified as the official women’s 100m hurdles world record.
The mark stood for more than four years before Russell lowered it to 12.09 seconds.
Olympic champion before world-record holder
Russell’s latest achievement comes two years after she became an Olympic champion.
At Paris 2024, she won the women’s 100m hurdles gold medal in 12.33 seconds.
She had secured her place at the Games after winning the event at the 2024 US Olympic Trials in 12.25 seconds.
The United States Olympic Trials performance earned her a place on the American team before she completed her Olympic journey with gold in Paris.
Her 2026 season has been remarkable
The Zurich world record is the latest highlight of a remarkable 2026 campaign for Russell.
World Athletics reported that she arrived in Zurich having already threatened Amusan’s record twice during the season.
At the Lausanne Diamond League on August 21, Russell won the women’s 100m hurdles in 12.27 seconds, recording her ninth victory of the season.
Reuters reported that the victory extended her remarkable dominance heading into the Zurich meeting.
Six days later, Russell delivered the performance that had been building throughout the season — 12.09 seconds and a new world record.
Russell’s record-breaking numbers
* World record: 12.09 seconds
* Previous record: 12.12 seconds — Tobi Amusan
* Record improvement: 0.03 seconds
* Wind reading: 0.0m/s
* Venue: Letzigrund Stadium, Zurich
* Age: 26
* Olympic title: Paris 2024
* 2026 Diamond League wins before Zurich: 9
What next for Russell?
The world record comes at a crucial stage of the 2026 athletics season.
World Athletics said the Wanda Diamond League Final in Brussels is scheduled for the following week, with the World Athletics Ultimate Championship also on the horizon.
Russell will now have the opportunity to build on a season that has already established her as the dominant force in women’s 100m hurdles.
For now, though, she has achieved the feat that had increasingly appeared within her reach: the Olympic champion is officially the fastest woman ever recorded in the 100m hurdles.
And she achieved it with the woman whose record she broke, Tobi Amusan, running in the same race.
