US Masai Russell breaks Tobi Amusan’s 100m hurdles world record in Zurich
American hurdler Masai Russell has broken Nigerian athlete Tobi Amusan’s world record in the women’s 100m hurdles.
The 26-year-old Olympic champion clocked 12.09 seconds at the Zurich Diamond League on Thursday, lowering the previous world record of 12.12 seconds set by Amusan in 2022.
Amusan finished second behind Russell in Zurich, recording 12.23 seconds, her fastest time of the season.
Russell had been edging closer to the world record in recent months, with her previous best performance coming in May when she ran 12.14 seconds at the Xiamen Diamond League.
Amusan’s record had stood for four years after she became the first Nigerian athlete to set a world record in athletics.
The Nigerian established the 12.12-second mark during her semi-final at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon. She subsequently ran an even faster 12.06 seconds in the final, but the performance was not eligible for a world record because of an excessive tailwind of 2.5 metres per second.
That historic night also saw Amusan become the first Nigerian to win a world athletics title.
Despite securing three consecutive Diamond League titles, Amusan has found it difficult to reproduce the form that produced her world record. She also finished third in the event’s final at the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
Russell and Amusan are expected to meet again at the Diamond League final in Brussels in early September.