American athlete Masai Russell set a new world record in the 100m hurdles, adding to her Olympic gold in the event. She completed the race in 12.09 seconds during a Diamond League meet held in Zurich, Switzerland. This time eclipsed the previous record by three hundredths of a second, which Nigerian Tobi Amusan set at the 2022 World Championships.
Russell, a 26-year-old from Washington, D.C., had previously run the second- and third-fastest times in history, clocking in at 12.14 in May 2026 and 12.17 in May 2025. She also posted the joint-fourth-fastest time of 12.19 in August 2025. After her recent victory, Russell made a shushing gesture to the audience, seemingly in response to online skepticism regarding her abilities.
“I see what people say online,” Russell commented. “People were like, ‘Masai’s PB by the end of her career’s going to be 12.14.’ I bookmarked that. I can’t wait to quote-tweet that because I’m just like, y’all really doubted me? Every time y’all doubt me I just show y’all that I’m not like anybody else.”
The world record was achieved with zero wind, adding to the feat’s impressiveness. Amusan retains the fastest time in history under any conditions with a time of 12.06, achieved under a 2.5 meter/second tailwind, which exceeds the 2.0 limit necessary for world record eligibility. Russell speculated that a 1.9 wind behind her could have potentially resulted in a sub-12-second run. “Everything that I’ve said that I wanted to do has come into fruition, so why not say I think I can be the first one to run sub-12?” she asked.
Russell is the first woman since Bulgarian Yordanka Donkova to pair Olympic gold with a world record in the 100m hurdles event. Donkova won Olympic gold in 1988 and held the world record until 2016, when American Keni Harrison broke it. Russell and Harrison are the only American women to hold the world record in the 100m hurdles. As of now, Ja’Kobe Tharp remains the only American man with a world record in an individual running event that’s part of the Olympic program.