Masai Russell? She’s been that girl in the short hurdles for a while now! From the moment she broke the NCAA record with a blazing 12.36s, folks started to pay attention. But Masai wasn’t just chasing time. She was building something. Brick by brick. Through frustration, near misses, and big-stage heartbreaks, she kept showing up. And then came Paris. The Olympics, and she didn’t flinch. 12.33. Olympic gold in the bag! Now here’s the twist—her latest race didn’t just shake up the medal tally… it may have made one legendary voice in track and field eat his words. Yep! That good!

Let’s rewind just a bit. Because not too long ago, in April, last month, at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational, Masai Russell didn’t exactly look like the woman who’d soon set the track world on fire. She came in hot, no doubt. Olympic gold in the bag last year. Confidence sky-high. But on that day in Gainesville? Grace Stark had her number. The Florida sprinter flew past her in both the prelims and the final, while Masai clocked a modest 12.65s and walked away with more frustration than medals. You could see it on her face—she wasn’t happy. Now, here’s where the real story begins.

Justin Gatlin, one of the sport’s biggest voices, was quiet after that race. Real quiet. On his Ready Set Go Podcast with Rodney Green, even Gatlin admitted, “I was quiet because I didn’t see what you saw… I didn’t see it.” Green had earlier predicted something big was coming for Masai, but Gatlin wasn’t sold, yet. “You did say that. You did say that, brother. You did say that. And you listen, the crazy thing is you said that coming off of Tom Jones,” Gatlin said. “But that’s what I love about track and field. Masai did not have a good race at Tom Jones… and usually what sets in is frustration. But someone like Masai stuck to the plan and was prepared for the moment.”

Fast forward to the Grand Slam Track Meet in Miami, and boom. Masai showed exactly what she was made of. The race? Electric. Tia Jones came out firing, actually leading for most of it. “From the aerial view,” Gatlin noted, “Tia was actually ahead… but coming off the last hurdle, Masai sprinted to that finish line.” 12.17s. A new American record. The second-fastest time ever run behind Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan’s 12.12 and the fastest American woman in history. She broke Kendra Harrison, a 33-year-old’s 2016 record that was set at the London Müller Anniversary Games.

Everyone was stunned. Masai was stunned. Even Tia Jones looked shell-shocked. But no one more than Gatlin himself, who grinned on air and said, “Masai goes out and breaks the American record… 12.17! Now hold on, hold on…”

A brief review of Masai Russell’s 2025 season

Masai Russell’s 2025 season has been nothing short of a statement, barring a few hiccups, and each race felt like a chapter in a comeback novel. It all began indoors in January, where she dropped a 7.89 in the 60m hurdles final at the Texas Tech Corky Classic. By February, she was flying. Russell claimed gold at the USA Indoors with a crisp 7.74.

Then came outdoors, and with it, the grind. She opened with a fifth-place 12.78 at Grand Slam Kingston, followed by a second-place 12.65 at the Tom Jones Memorial. The Drake Relays saw her clock 12.74 in a solo win. But she wasn’t done.

In Miami, everything changed. Russell exploded in the 100m hurdles final at the Grand Slam Track Meet with a jaw-dropping 12.17—breaking the American record. It was the second-fastest time ever. A day later, she clocked 11.40 in the 100m flat final.