Masai Russell Dominant in Monaco

Masai Russell  dominant in Monaco

Masai Russell ran 12.20 to win the women’s 100m hurdles in Monaco from Alaysha (12.38). Russell won the Paris Olympics in 2024 with a time of 12.33.  She has run 8 hurdle races this season with a record of 8-0 as the Americans like to call it!  The fastest of those 8 wins was 12.14 in the Diamond League in Xiamen. She didn’t quite get it right in the 2025 Worlds, finishing fourth in 12.44.

Her assessment of her race in Monaco was: “It felt like a good, clean execution. I was moving through the hurdles very well, and it felt good and smooth. Honestly, at this point, I do not think there is any room for me to improve. It is really just perfecting the whole sculpture. Just to put it all together. Just doing the same thing I have been doing. I have been putting together some really, really good races and times. And when you do the same thing a lot of times, that is when the bigger performances come. So I know something big is coming. No pressure. Well, I do not know what is the meeting record in Budapest, but that is where I am heading next. So I am hoping to break the meet record there and then continue it for the rest of the season. I am just having fun with it – just let the work that you put in show itself. Before the competition, I like doing a lot of TikTok dances. I like recording a lot of videos, having fun”.

At the press conference in Monaco, I asked her about the way the women’s sprint hurdles were getting faster and faster. She told me that there were several factors: “I think the reason why the women’s hurdles have become one of the best events, one of the fastest events, one of the hardest events is just due to evolution. I think that when there’s a lot of fast people at the same time, you start to see fast times become more normal, like me running 12:2 consistently. I think it’s just we’re learning more. There are more resources now than there were 10 years ago. So I really just attest to knowing more and just like right place, right time. It’s just like for the men’s 100 was back when Usain Bolt was running – that was like the era for the 100, and I feel like we’re in that era now for the women’s 100 hurdles”.

In terms of how fast she could go, she said: “I do believe breaking sub 12 is definitely possible just on the track that all the women’s hurdles are going and especially myself running 12:1 three times now. I think that it’s definitely possible for me just because I know I’m still very young in this sport. I feel like I’m still building, I’m still getting stronger. I’m still learning things about myself. So yeah, I mean, I think when I turn like, you know, maybe 28, 29, 30, and I get even stronger and faster and even more experience, I think that we’ll start to see 12:0s and 11:9s”.

She added: “This is definitely the most fit I’ve ever felt, the best I’ve ever felt. I felt really good last year, but this year is definitely topping that. So I’m just excited to keep building for the rest of the season and see what we can do.

She handled herself well at the presser, saying all the right things: “The track is fast. The competition is always great at the Diamond League. So I’m just happy to be here”.

She added that he was an athlete who ran to win, not to achieve times: “I have no time in my head for Monaco. I am just really going out there to compete, race to win, and I always say the time will take care of it. With the women’s hurdles, the competition is always really good. So I know that a fast time will come and the track is fast. I feel really good. I’m in the best shape of my life. So I don’t chase times. I just chase wins, and with wins come fast times”.

Masai Russell is an outstanding athlete and a lively personality to go with it.

You can hear Masai Russell answer Stuart’s questions at the press conference after 1 hour 22:20