Zurich produced a rare double world-record night on Thursday, with Masai Russell and Alison Dos Santos each delivering historic runs at Letzigrund Stadium.
Russell, the Olympic champion hurdler, won the women’s 100m hurdles in 12.09 seconds to break the world record. The previous best was 12.12sec, set by Tobi Amusan at the Eugene world championships in 2022.
Earlier in the meet, Dos Santos ran 45.80 seconds in the 400m hurdles to set the men’s world record. He moved past the 45.94sec mark Karsten Warholm set in the final at the Tokyo Olympics.
A fast night in Zurich
The two records were the headline acts in a Diamond League meet that also featured a historic pole vault contest and a strong women’s 800m performance. Conditions were favorable at Letzigrund Stadium, with weather and crowd size helping create the kind of atmosphere that can produce fast times.
That mattered for more than just the records. Mondo Duplantis won the pole vault with 6.25m after both he and Emmanouil Karalis attempted 6.32m, while Audrey Werro ran 1:53.70 in the women’s 800m. It was the sort of meet that kept producing notable performances throughout the evening.
What the record means
For Russell, the 12.09sec run is a major step in a sprint hurdles event where the margins are tiny. For Dos Santos, it was further confirmation of the form he has shown all season. He said he had been showing great form throughout the season and added that, once he knew he was coming to Zurich, he was excited by the weather and the track.
Warholm called it a “crazy event,” and Karalis said it was not every day two people go for the world record, calling the contest “nuts.” That summed up the night well: two world records, one meet, and a rare stretch of top-end performances across multiple events.
Both record-breakers also earned $80,000 apiece for their victories, adding a financial reward to a historic night in Switzerland.
