BREAKING: Four-Year After, Masai Russell Breaks Tobi Amusan’s 100m Hurdles World Record in Zurich
Olympic champion Masai Russell ended Tobi Amusan’s four-year reign as the world record holder in the women’s 100m hurdles after clocking 12.09 seconds at the Weltklasse Zurich meeting on Thursday.
The 26-year-old American took three hundredths of a second off Amusan’s 12.12-second record, which the Nigerian set at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, Oregon. Amusan finished second in Zurich with a season’s best of 12.23 seconds.
Masai Russell took charge of the race from the start, getting quickly into her rhythm and pulling clear over the opening hurdles. Her 12.09 seconds improved on her previous personal best of 12.14, which she ran at the Xiamen Diamond League in May.
Amusan had held the record since July 2022, when she ran 12.12 seconds in the semi-finals of the World Championships. The Nigerian went on to win the final in 12.06 seconds, although that time could not count as a world record because of excessive tailwind.
“Competing in a world record race is amazing,” Amusan said afterwards. “I came out here, and I did my best, and I am happy with this SB.”
The 29-year-old had won on her previous two visits to Zurich in 2021 and 2022 but had to settle for second this time as Russell became the first woman to run faster than her world record.
Russell’s win also continued her recent dominance over Amusan, having now won all four of their head-to-head meetings this year. Their overall record now stands level at 7-7.
The official result confirmed Russell’s 12.09 seconds as the new world record, Diamond League record and meeting record. Amusan will now shift her focus to the Diamond League Final in Brussels and the World Ultimate Championships in Budapest.
