‘Competing in a World Record Race Is Amazing’: Amusan Reacts After Losing WR to Russell

‘Competing in a world record race is amazing. I came out here and I did my best and I am happy with this SB.’

That was Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan’s reaction after she finished second in the women’s 100m hurdles at the Weltklasse in Zurich, the 14th and penultimate leg of the 2026 Wanda Diamond League.

Amusan ran a season’s best 12.23 seconds, but it was American Masai Russell who stole the show, winning in a new world record of 12.09 seconds.

The official result confirms Russell’s 12.09 as a World Record, Diamond League Record and Meeting Record, while Amusan’s 12.12 seconds world record, set on her way to making history as the first Nigerian and second African after Moroccan Nezha Bidouane to win a World outdoor title in Oregon, USA, in 2022, remains intact.

The Nigerian came second at the Weltklasse in Zurich for the first time in her last three visits. She won in 2021 and 2022.

The 29-year-old ran a 12.23 season’s best and will look at the Diamond League Final in Brussels, Belgium, or the World Ultimate Championships in Budapest, Hungary, to get her record back and fulfil Colin Jackson’s prediction of running close to 12 seconds flat or 12 seconds flat.

The Nigerian has now lost all four head-to-head races against the American, who has also tied the overall head-to-head meetings at 7-7.