Photo: Dan Vernon

Silesia

OMEGA Moment of the Meeting: Masai Russell’s first DL win

Olympic 100m hurdles champion Masai Russell claimed her first ever Diamond League win and set a new series record at the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial Meeting in Silesia on Saturday.

It was a long time coming, but in the end, Masai Russell’s first ever Diamond League win proved to be worth the wait.

On a day which saw three Diamond League records, four world leads, Olympic revenge for Kishane Thompson and a breathtaking return from injury from Keely Hodgkinson, it was always going to take a special performance to grab the headlines at Saturday’s meeting in Silesia.

That is exactly what Russell delivered at the Kamila Skolimowska, finally breaking her Diamond League duck with one of the fastest times ever recorded in the women’s sprint hurdles.

Prior to this weekend, Russell’s Diamond League record had always remained something of a mystery.

Olympic champion in 2024 and second-fastest woman in history, the American star had not won any of her nine appearances on track and field’s premier one-day circuit.

So after two fourth-place finishes in Eugene and Monaco earlier this season, the 25-year-old came to Silesia with a point to prove.

Her Diamond League woes appeared to continue in the heats, as she clocked 12.36 behind Nadine Visser, who set a new meeting record with 12.28.

Yet there was no stopping Russell in the main race, as she motored away from Visser and held off a late challenge from Tonea Marshall and Tobi Amusan to cross the line first.

The Wanda Diamond League’s Official Timekeeper, OMEGA, clocked her in at 12.19, a new Diamond League record and the joint third-fastest time in history.

Only Russell herself and world record holder Amusan had ever gone faster.

“”This is my first Diamond League win, so I’m so happy!” the Olympic champion said.

“This is important to me because these are the women I am going to be running against at World Championships. I did it at USAs, and now I’ve done it on the world stage”.