At the 2026 Weltklasse für Diamond League, Olympic champion Masai Russell of the United States broke the four-year record held by Tobi Amusan in the women’s 100-meter hurdles on Thursday nite with a time of 12.09 seconds.
The Washington, D.C.-born 26-year-old beat Amusan’s record of 12.12, established at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, by three hundredths of a second. Nadine Visser, the European champion, placed third in 12.34, while Amusan finished second in a season-best time of 12.23. The performance was even more impressive because the race was conducted in perfectly motionless conditions (0.0 m/s breeze).
Russell’s 11th straight triumph occurred just minutes after Alison dos Santos of Brazil had earlier in the same meet broken the world mark for the men’s 400-meter hurdles.
“I’m still processing it,” Russell told media more than an hour after the race, following her victory ceremony and lap of honor. “It’s a blessing just because I’ve been chasing it, and you know, the world’s been talking about it. So just to finally do it, it’s like, ‘All right, I can breathe a little bit. Not all the way, but partially.’ I’m still over the moon, I’m in shock.”
Russell’s times have improved over the years, raising expectations: 12.71 in 2022, 12.36 in 2023, 12.25 in 2024 (the year she won Olympic gold in Paris in 12.33 into a headwind), 12.17 in 2025, and 12.14 earlier this season in Xiamen. At the time, she was the second-fastest woman in history.
Russell claimed to have known right away that something unique was taking place:
“I just knew that the start felt really good and then by the time I looked up I was crossing the line… When I saw 12.09 I just knew like I got it and I just got so emotional. I dreamed about this moment for so long.”
Russell made a shushing gesture with her index finger to her lips just after the race. She subsequently clarified that she had saved comments from the internet that predicted her career-best score would still be 12.14.
“I see what people say online… Every time y’all doubt me I just show y’all that I’m not like anybody else.” She followed up on social media with: “What they gon say now🙊?!??”
She also credited dos Santos’s earlier world record for motivation:
“When I heard that Alison dos Santos broke the World Record, in the back of my mind, I was trying to focus and lock in, but I knew the track was hot. I got a lot of motivation from him for sure.”
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Since Yordanka Donkova of Bulgaria (who accomplished the double after the 1988 Olympics), Russell is the only woman to hold both the world record and Olympic gold in the 100-meter hurdles. The only American women to hold the record are her and Keni Harrison. The mark is awaiting official World Athletics approval.
Russell’s next goals are the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest (September 11–13) and the Diamond League Final in Brussels (September 4–5).