Masai Russell broke the women’s 100 metres hurdles world record at the Weltklasse Zürich Diamond League on 27 August 2026. She ran 12.09 seconds, shaving 0.03 off the old mark of 12.12 set by Tobi Amusan in 2022. The wind gauge showed a perfect zero, making the record legal and clean.
Two records, one track, forty minutes apart
The Letzigrund stadium had barely settled after one shock when Russell delivered another. Earlier, Brazil’s Alison dos Santos broke the men’s 400 metres hurdles world record on the same blue track. Russell then stepped into her blocks with Amusan, the former record holder, in the lane beside her.
Her start was crisp and her stride pattern held through all ten barriers. She crossed the line, saw the clock, and raised a finger to her lips. The gesture silenced online voices that had once pegged her career best at 12.14.
An unbeaten season finds its crown
The race marked Russell’s eleventh straight 100 metres hurdles win in 2026. She already owned the second- and third-fastest times in history before this night. Amusan finished runner-up in 12.23, watching her own record fall from the next lane.
At 26, the Olympic champion from Washington, D.C. now holds the gold medal and the fastest time ever run in her event. The performance also set a Diamond League record and a meeting record for Weltklasse Zürich.
“I’m still processing it,” Russell told reporters afterwards. “I’ve been chasing it and the world’s been talking about it, so just to finally do it, it’s like, all right, I can breathe a little bit.”
The Diamond League final and the World Ultimate Championships still wait. In Zurich, the hurdler finally caught the number she had tracked for so long.
