Two world records in less than 40 minutes: Dos Santos and Russell make history in Zürich
Weltklasse Zürich turned 27 August 2026 into one of the most memorable athletics evenings of recent years. At the Letzigrund Stadium in Zürich, in the final meeting of the regular Wanda Diamond League season, Brazil's Alison dos Santos first broke the world record in the 400 metres hurdles, and less than 40 minutes later American Masai Russell did the same in the 100 metres hurdles. According to the official World Athletics report, Dos Santos won in 45.80 seconds, while Russell crossed the finish line in 12.09 seconds. Both performances were designated as world records that still have to go through the usual ratification process. Two records in such a short period gave the conclusion of the Diamond League season additional significance just one week before the final in Brussels.
Dos Santos takes the record that had belonged to Warholm for five years
The first major moment of the evening came in the men's 400 metres hurdles. Dos Santos ran 45.80 and bettered Karsten Warholm's previous world record of 45.94 by 0.14 seconds, a mark set in the Olympic Games final in Tokyo on 3 August 2021. World Athletics states that the Brazilian had already made up the initial deficit resulting from the staggered lane positions by halfway through the race and then continued to extend his lead. Warholm finished second in Zürich in 46.69, still a performance near the very top of the event's all-time rankings, but that evening he was not close to victory.
The official results show just how convincing Dos Santos was. He beat the Norwegian by 0.89 seconds, while third-placed Nigerian Ezekiel Nathaniel finished in 47.50. Brazilian Matheus Lima was fourth in 47.57, and Qatar's Abderrahman Samba fifth in 47.77. In an event in which the differences between the best athletes often depend on the rhythm between the hurdles and a few tenths in the finishing stretch, an advantage of almost an entire second over one of the greatest hurdlers in history underlines the level of Dos Santos's performance.
After the race, according to the Diamond League report, Dos Santos pointed out that his form, the atmosphere and the energy of the crowd had all come together in Zürich, and that changes in training had been aimed specifically at a faster start and a stronger finish to the race. He particularly thanked his coach, emphasising his role in his long-term development. Such a statement fits the picture of a season in which the Brazilian gradually raised his level of form, with the record in Zürich coming not as an isolated result but as the culmination of a series of outstanding performances.
From Tokyo bronze to the fastest time in the history of the event
Dos Santos's record gains additional significance when compared with the race that had defined the limits of the men's 400 metres hurdles for five years. In the 2021 Olympic final in Tokyo, Warholm won in a then-unthinkable 45.94, American Rai Benjamin was second in 46.17, and Dos Santos third in 46.72. According to the official World Athletics results, all three ran faster that day than Kevin Young's former world record, which had been the benchmark for the event for decades.
The Brazilian confirmed just one year later that he belonged at the very top. At the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, he won the world title in 46.29, then a championship record and his personal best. In the 2026 season he once again built a run of victories against Warholm. Only four days before Zürich, at the Diamond League meeting in Silesia, World Athletics recorded his victory in 46.43 ahead of Warholm's 46.52. It was the world-leading performance of the season before he went more than half a second faster at Letzigrund.
That also changed the symbolic balance of power in the event. Since 2021, Warholm had been the holder of a record that became one of the defining achievements of modern athletics, while Dos Santos in the meantime won a world title and two Olympic bronze medals. Zürich brought the moment in which the Brazilian not only defeated his long-time rival but also took over his most important statistical legacy — the world record.
Russell's 12.09 breaks Amusan's 2022 record
Less than 40 minutes after Dos Santos's performance, attention shifted to the start of the women's 100 metres hurdles. Masai Russell ran 12.09 seconds with a wind reading of 0.0 metres per second, the official results show, improving Tobi Amusan's world record of 12.12 by three hundredths of a second. The result carries particular significance because the Nigerian competed in the same race. Amusan finished second with a season's best of 12.23, while European champion Nadine Visser was third in 12.34, also a season's best.
According to World Athletics, Russell said after the finish that she felt she had made a very good start and that this time she consciously continued running through the finish line itself. When she saw 12.09 on the scoreboard, she reacted emotionally, describing the world record as a moment she had long dreamed about. She added that the news of Dos Santos's record had given her additional motivation because it showed how fast the track was that evening. The two record races were therefore not only close in time but, according to Russell herself, also psychologically connected.
The American arrived in Zürich as the Olympic champion from Paris 2024. Then, according to the official World Athletics report, she won gold in an exceptionally close final in 12.33, just one hundredth ahead of France's Cyréna Samba-Mayela. In the meantime, she continued to improve. In May 2026 in Xiamen, she ran 12.14 with a legal +0.5 metres per second wind, bringing her to within just two hundredths of Amusan's record. Zürich brought the step she had been missing: not only personal and national progress, but a new global benchmark.
Amusan's record lasted four years
Tobi Amusan's previous record was one of the most memorable moments of the 2022 World Championships in Eugene. In the semi-final on 24 July, the Nigerian ran 12.12 with a +0.9 metres per second wind and broke American Kendra Harrison's then-record of 12.20. World Athletics subsequently ratified the performance as a world record. Less than two hours later in the final, Amusan ran an even faster 12.06, but that performance could not be recognised as a record because the wind was +2.5 metres per second, above the permitted limit.
That is why Russell's 12.09 in Zürich is particularly important in the historical context of the event. It is the first officially recorded performance below 12.10 seconds in conditions that comply with the wind rule, with the note that the record is still awaiting formal ratification. In the race she also defeated the previous record holder, giving the moment direct sporting drama: the old and new limits of the event found themselves on the same starting line.
For Amusan, second place does not mean a weak performance. Her 12.23 was a season's best, and Russell had to beat one of the most successful hurdlers of her generation to set the new world record. Visser's 12.34 in third place further confirms the quality of the race, while Danielle Williams, Ackera Nugent and Pia Skrzyszowska finished behind them. Alaysha Johnson was disqualified, according to the official results.
Records still await standard ratification
World Athletics states alongside both results from Zürich that they are subject to the usual ratification procedure. This is the standard wording accompanying new world records immediately after a competition and does not mean that there is any doubt about the performances themselves. Until the process is completed, the times of 45.80 and 12.09 are listed in reports as world records with the corresponding note.
For Russell's race, the official result lists a wind reading of 0.0 metres per second, which is within the prescribed conditions for recognising records in sprinting and sprint hurdles. Dos Santos's event does not have the same wind-related restriction. The very fact that both races were held as part of a Wanda Diamond League programme, with official electronic timing and international competition rules, ensures that the results enter World Athletics's standard verification process.
Zürich produced more than just two world records
Although Dos Santos and Russell defined the evening, Weltklasse Zürich offered a series of other world-class results. Switzerland's Audrey Werro won the 800 metres in 1:53.70 and, according to the Diamond League, further improved her own series record, the world-leading performance and the meeting record. Dutch athlete Femke Broeders-Bol finished second with a national record of 1:54.71, while Georgia Hunter Bell was third in 1:55.03.
In the men's pole vault, Armand Duplantis won with 6.25 metres, while Greece's Emmanouil Karalis set a national record with 6.20. Both then attempted 6.32 metres, a height that would have represented a new world record, but neither cleared it. In the women's 400 metres hurdles, Anna Cockrell set a world-leading 52.13 and a meeting record, while former world record holder Dalilah Muhammad was second in 53.16.
Parker Wolfe broke the decades-old meeting record in the 3000 metres with 7:27.43. Emmanuel Wanyonyi won the 800 metres in 1:41.76, then the best performance of the season, and Kenny Bednarek won the 200 metres in 19.62. In the women's 100 metres sprint, Julien Alfred and Melissa Jefferson-Wooden were both given a time of 10.70, with Alfred winning by five thousandths of a second and setting a Saint Lucian national record. According to the Diamond League, only once before had two women run 10.70 or faster in the same race.
Such a breadth of performances explains why the organisers and international athletics institutions described the evening at Letzigrund as one of the high points of the season. The two world records were the central event, but they were surrounded by a series of performances that would themselves have been the main story at most other meetings.
Brussels is the next major stop
Zürich was the final qualifying meeting before the two-day Wanda Diamond League final in Brussels. According to the official competition calendar, the final will be held on 4 and 5 September 2026 at the King Baudouin Stadium. During the season, athletes collected points at 14 qualifying meetings for a place in the final, where the winners of the Diamond Trophy are decided in 32 events.
The Diamond League states that the total prize fund for the final amounts to 2.24 million US dollars, while the winners of individual events also receive automatic qualification for the World Athletics Ultimate Championship. According to World Athletics, that competition is held from 11 to 13 September in Budapest, meaning the interval between Zürich, Brussels and Budapest will be very short for the leading athletes.
For Dos Santos and Russell, the Diamond League final comes immediately after performances that changed the historical rankings of their events. In Zürich, the Brazilian broke the record of the man who for years symbolised the revolution in the men's 400 metres hurdles, while the American broke the 12.10-second barrier in an event in which elite hurdlers in recent years had approached Amusan's record without breaking it. Regardless of the outcomes of the season finale, 27 August 2026 at Letzigrund already holds a special place in athletics history.
Sources:
- World Athletics – official report from the Weltklasse Zürich meeting, including the world records by Dos Santos and Russell and the results of the other events (link)
- Wanda Diamond League – official Zürich report with race details, athlete statements and meeting results (link)
- World Athletics – official results of the men's 400 metres hurdles Olympic final in Tokyo 2021, including Warholm's 45.94 record and Dos Santos's bronze medal (link)
- World Athletics – report on Tobi Amusan's 12.12 world record at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene (link)
- World Athletics – official announcement of the ratification of Amusan's world record from Eugene 2022 (link)
- World Athletics – report on Masai Russell's Olympic gold medal in the 100 metres hurdles in Paris 2024 (link)
- World Athletics – official results of the 2026 Xiamen meeting, where Russell ran 12.14 (link)
- World Athletics – report from Silesia 2026 with Dos Santos's then world-leading performance of 46.43 (link)
- Wanda Diamond League – official calendar and information about the season final in Brussels on 4 and 5 September 2026 (link)