ZURICH, SWITZERLAND — American Olympic champion Masai Russell shattered the women’s 100 metres hurdles world record at the Weltklasse Zürich Diamond League meeting on Thursday, clocking 12.09 seconds to eclipse the 12.12 mark set by Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan at the 2022 World Athletics Championships .
The 26-year-old from Washington, D.C., delivered a flawless run over the barriers with no wind assistance, taking three hundredths of a second off the previous record . Russell’s victory was comprehensive, with Amusan finishing second in a season’s best 12.23 seconds, while European champion Nadine Visser of the Netherlands took third in 12.34 seconds .
Russell’s record-breaking performance capped an extraordinary night of athletics at the Letzigrund Stadium, coming less than 40 minutes after Brazil’s Alison dos Santos had broken the men’s 400m hurdles world record . The American had been closing in on the record throughout the season, having already run 12.14 seconds — the second-fastest time in history — at the Xiamen Diamond League in May .
“I’ve been saying all year that I’m going to break the world record,” Russell had said after her Xiamen run. “I don’t know when it’s going to come, but I keep getting closer and closer” . Her persistence finally paid off in Zurich, where the wind reading was a dead calm 0.0 metres per second, validating the record under World Athletics regulations .
Amusan, who had held the record since her historic semi-final run at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, took the result with grace . “Competing in a world record race is amazing,” said the Nigerian, who had set the African record of 12.40 in the heats before breaking the world record in the semi-finals and winning gold .
Russell’s time also stands as a Diamond League record and a meeting record, well inside the 12.29 Amusan ran in Zurich in 2022 . The American now becomes the first woman to go faster than Amusan’s mark since the Nigerian set it four years ago, ending her reign atop the world list .
Prior to Thursday’s historic run, Russell had already established herself as one of the world’s premier hurdlers. She had previously run the joint-fourth-fastest time in history in August 2025 with 12.19 seconds, in addition to her 12.14 in May 2026 and 12.17 in May 2025 . Her progression has been remarkable, moving from Olympic champion to world record holder in the space of just over a year.
The race also featured a strong field, with Danielle Williams fourth in 12.56, Ackera Nugent fifth in 12.69, and reigning world champion Ditaji Kambundji finishing seventh in 12.82 in front of her home crowd .
Russell’s record-breaking feat has been hailed as one of the standout moments of the athletics season, with the Weltklasse Zürich meeting delivering the feel of a championship final . The performance adds to a growing legacy for American sprint hurdling, while also serving as a testament to the enduring quality of Amusan’s 2022 mark, which had stood for four years.
For Amusan, the runner-up finish in a season’s best time suggests she remains competitive at the highest level, even as her world record has now been surpassed. The Nigerian’s 12.12 mark had been the subject of scrutiny in some quarters, but recent performances by Russell and others have validated the legitimacy of Amusan’s achievement .
As the Diamond League season heads toward its final in Brussels, Russell’s world record stands as a defining moment of 2026, cementing her place in the history of the sport .
