By Issah Olegor
American Olympic champion Masai Russell has rewritten the history books in the women’s 100-metre hurdles, producing a remarkable world-record performance of 12.09 seconds at the Weltklasse Zürich Diamond League meeting in Switzerland.
Russell delivered a near-perfect run on August 27, 2026, taking three hundredths of a second off the previous world record of 12.12 seconds, set by Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan in 2022.
The significance of Russell’s achievement was amplified by the conditions in Zürich. The race was completed with a 0.0 metres-per-second wind reading, meaning the performance was fully legal for world-record purposes and was not assisted by a tailwind.
Russell’s blistering start and technically clean passage over the barriers gave her control of the race, and she maintained her composure through the final hurdles to cross the line in 12.09 seconds and secure her place as the fastest woman ever over the distance.
Amusan, the previous world-record holder, finished second in 12.23 seconds, while the Netherlands’ Nadine Visser claimed third in 12.34 seconds.
For Amusan, the result brought an emotional twist to a race that saw her long-standing record finally surpassed. The Nigerian had established the previous global mark of 12.12 seconds in 2022, setting a benchmark that had remained the standard for four years.
Russell’s latest achievement builds on an already impressive period in her career. The 26-year-old Washington, D.C.-born hurdler had entered the season in outstanding form, having recorded 12.14 seconds in May, then the second-fastest time in history.
Her Zürich performance has now taken that progression to another level, reducing the world record to 12.09 seconds and adding a Diamond League record and meeting record to her growing list of accomplishments.
The achievement also places Russell in a rare category in athletics history. She has become the first woman since Yordanka Donkova in 1988 to simultaneously hold the Olympic title and the world record in the 100m hurdles.
