Masai Russell Shatters Tobi Amusan’s 100m Hurdles World Record in Zurich

Olympic champion Masai Russell has ended Nigerian sprint hurdler Tobi Amusan’s four-year reign as the women’s 100m hurdles world record holder after producing a stunning 12.09-second performance at the Weltklasse Zurich meeting on Thursday.

The 26-year-old American shaved three hundredths of a second off Amusan’s previous world record of 12.12 seconds, set by the Nigerian at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

Amusan finished second in Zurich in a season-best time of 12.23 seconds, while Russell’s latest performance also improved her previous personal best of 12.14 seconds, recorded at the Xiamen Diamond League in May.

Russell made a fast start and quickly established control of the race, maintaining her rhythm through the early hurdles before pulling away from the field to secure the historic victory.

Amusan had held the world record since July 2022, when she clocked 12.12 seconds in the semi-finals of the World Championships. She later crossed the line in 12.06 seconds in the final, but the performance was not recognised as a world record because the race was aided by an excessive tailwind.

Speaking after the Zurich race, Amusan acknowledged the significance of competing in a world-record contest and expressed satisfaction with her season-best performance.

The result marked another victory for Russell over Amusan this year, with the American now having won all four of their meetings in 2026. Their overall head-to-head record is tied at 7-7.

According to Ireporter Online, Russell’s 12.09 seconds was officially recognised as the new world record, while also setting new Diamond League and meeting records.

Amusan, who had previously won the Zurich meeting in 2021 and 2022, will now turn her attention to the Diamond League Final in Brussels and the World Ultimate Championships in Budapest, where she will seek to bounce back from the record-breaking defeat.