For Masai Russell, 2026 was arguably the greatest season of her career so far.
The US sprint hurdler may have won Olympic gold in 2024, but this year, she reached a new level of dominance.
Russell set a new world record at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Zurich in August, before storming to title wins at the Diamond League Final in Brussels and the World Athletics Ultimate Championships in Budapest.
Yet those achievements were just the tip of the iceberg in a year which saw Russell rewrite the Diamond League history books.
In recent years, the women’s 100m hurdles had been one of the most wide open events in the sport, with multiple women vying for supremacy.
That all changed in 2026, as Russell became the undisputed queen of the hurdles with a record-breaking display of consistency.
The 26-year-old was unbeaten in 14 races in 2026, winning comfortably in all of her seven appearances in the Diamond League.
Not only that, she also set a new meeting record in all seven of those Diamond League races, something that no athlete had ever previously done in the series’ 18-year history.
It started with an impressive 12.25 in Shanghai/Keqiao, with Russell shaving 0.18 seconds off Grace Stark’s previous meeting record from the year before.
The real fireworks came a week later in Xiamen, where Russell clocked a new Diamond League record of 12.14.
Just 0.02 seconds short of Tobi Amusan’s then world record of 12.12, the time was a major statement of intent from the Olympic champion.
“I’ve been saying all year that I’m gonna break the world record. I don’t know when it’s gonna happen, but I keep getting closer and closer,” she said in Xiamen.
She would have to wait until July for her next chance to do so at a Diamond League meeting.
On home soil in Eugene, Russell continued her perfect streak of meeting records, equalling Keni Harrison’s decade-old mark of 12.24.
She claimed the Monaco record outright a few days later, storming to an ominous 12.20 at the Stade Louis II to break compatriot Nia Ali’s previous best from three years earlier.
A fifth meeting record followed with 12.27 in Lausanne in August, though Russell’s reaction to that win suggested she still had her sights set on something bigger.
“It was a little sloppy, but I got it together,” she said.
Returning to Switzerland a week later, the American finally delivered the performance she had been promising all year.
In Zurich, she clocked 12.09, breaking Amusan’s world record and becoming the first woman in history to go under 12.1 seconds.
“When I saw 12.09, I got so emotional because I’d dreamed about this moment for so long,” she said.
After that, Russell just had one thing left to do in the Diamond League in 2026: win the final and complete a perfect streak of seven meeting records.
She did just that, clocking a cool 12.20 to break Jasmine Camacho-Quinn’s previous record in Brussels and get her hands on the Diamond Trophy for the very first time.
“Winning this trophy was one of my main goals this season, because it’s one of those things you have to do to consider yourself the greatest,” she said.
After her record-breaking season in 2026, Russell may have a claim to be the greatest.
