Olympic Hurdles Champion Masai Russell Secures American Record In Big-Time Slam Performance
PARIS, FRANCE - AUGUST 10: Masai Russell of Team United States celebrates winning the Gold medal in ... More the Women's 100m Hurdles Final on day fifteen of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Stade de France on August 10, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by)
Steve Cram was utterly baffled by Masai Russell's American record in the 100 meter hurdles on Friday in Grand Slam Track Miami's debut on U.S. soil.
'Twelve … is that right?' the commentator said immediately following Russell's brilliant showing on the first day of action at the Miramar Sports Complex near Miami. 'I'm looking at the clock here. Twelve-point-one ….seven?'
When the dust settled—and the wind-reading showed a legal 2.0 meters per second wind—Russell claimed a new American record in the women's 100 meter hurdles in 12.17 seconds, winning the first of two events in the short hurdles category to set herself up for a potential $100,000 payday.
Keni Harrison's former American record of 12.20 had stood since 2016.
'I'm still pretty loaded up,' Russell told a selection of reporters afterward. 'I didn't expect that, but I just went out and competed and it showed when you turn your brain off and you compete, you don't know what you're capable of.'
TOPSHOT - USA's Tia Jones compete reacts after winning the women's 100 meter short hurdles event ... More during the Grand Slam Track competition at the National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica, on April 5, 2025. (Photo by Ricardo Makyn / AFP) (Photo by RICARDO MAKYN/AFP via Getty Images)
What's more, the result followed a less than optimal result at Grand Slam Kingston for the reigning Olympic champion.
Russell finished fifth in the discipline during the league's inaugural event in Kingston, later finishing sixth overall in her category.
'I wouldn't say it was revenge,' Russell said. 'The conditions weren't on my side in Kingston, personally speaking. So today, I knew if I had the wind at my back, I'm competitive with anyone else in the world. And yeah, I wanted to do better than I did from Kingston.'
On April 6, Russell ran 12.78 with a -1.4 m/s headwind, watching as American Tia Jones claimed the event in 12.63.
It wasn't an overly bad result, necessarily, but it wasn't the standard Russell had held herself up to in recent years. So she followed up on that effort on April 19 with a runner-up finish at the Tom Jones Memorial meet in Gainesville in 12.65, losing by sixth hundredths of a second to American Grace Stark, then claimed a win in the discipline at the Drake Relays a week later in Des Moines in 12.74.
Russell wasn't joking around on Friday. She locked in.
'When I focus on myself and I'm not thinking about all the external things and I'm locked into what I'm doing, that's really it,' she said. 'It's me showing up to the line and giving my best.'
When Russell broke the collegiate outdoor record in 2023 at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays with the University of Kentucky in 12.36 seconds, the wind was also a legal 2.0 m/s. That NCAA mark still stands.
'I was like, 'God is so good,'' Russell said. 'Because it was legal. It was right on the button.'
Russell isn't out of the woods yet. The Nike athlete will return to the track on Saturday at 5:56 p.m. EST and will need an ideal result in the flat 100 meters to win the top prize at Grand Slam Track Miami.
The stakes couldn't be higher.
The difference between a great day, an average one and a disappointing result can shift quickly in this meet series. Second-place finishers earn $50,000, while third nets $30,000 and fourth pulls in $25,000. Russell walked away with $15,000 the first time around, claiming a sixth-place finish.
By netting an early win and earning 12 points, she set herself up for a total tally that will contend for the women's short hurdles Slam.
As a Grand Slam Track 'racer,' Russell is guaranteed to run in Philadelphia and Los Angeles over the next few months. She said Friday her season will continue toward the World Championships in Tokyo.
'I always tell y'all,' she said. 'When it's time for me to run fast, I know I'll run fast.'
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