USA’s Russell and Brazil’s Dos Santos Break World Record at the Diamond League in Zurich

Key Points:

BRAZIL AND USA made the headlines when Alison dos Santos and Masai Russell gave an extraordinary performance in Zurich on Thursday, August 27, 2026. Both  the athletes broke world records in hurdles, when Dos Santos timed 45.80 seconds in men’s 400m hurdles , followed by Russell smashing the charts in women's 100m hurdles in just 12.09 seconds. The world records were broken at the final regular season of the Wanda Diamond League.

The day in Switzerland was filled with athletes stepping up to achieve the milestones that seemed impossible. The league gave them the opportunity to test their feat at best.

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A World Record to Remember by 

The Diamond League on August 27, 2026, was one to remember as United States’s own Masai Russell and Brazil’s Alison Dos Santos set a world record in Zurich. Dos Santos was the first one to mark his record breaking moment after clocking 45.80 seconds in the men’s 400m hurdles which was enough for him to beat Norway’s Karsten Warholm’s who set a previous record of 45.94 seconds at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. He said in an interview, “I have been showing great form throughout the season - that I am fast, I am strong.” Warholm came second behind Dos Santos. 

He added, “As soon as I knew I was coming here, I was excited. The weather’s good, the track’s amazing.” 

After 40 minutes in the event, USA’s Russell, the Olympic Champion, timed 12.09 seconds in the 100m hurdles to beat Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan’s previous best of 12.12 seconds that she held at the Eugene world championship in 2022. Amusan came second in the League while European champion Nadine Visser settled for third place in a season’s best of 12.34. Russell said, “My start felt really good. As I was approaching the line, I thought, ‘let me actually run through the line this time and see what the time is.’ When I saw 12.09, I got so emotional.”

“I have dreamed about this moment for so long. This is the best place I ever could have imagined to break the world record. When I heard that Alison dos Santos had broken the world record, it confirmed the track was hot. I got a lot of motivation from him for sure.”

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More Athletes Show-Up in the Diamond League

More athletes like Audrey Werro carried on her impressive season with yet another record in women’s 800m. Werro’s win came when she clocked 1:54.75 minutes to level-up her own Diamond League record. Switzerland’s Werro matched Femke Bol’s aggressive sprint in the beginning, but eventually failed to maintain Werro’s pace and  Femke couldn’t recover from her position. Werro led the 200 metres and clinched the victory over Femke. Werro’s run gave a future sign to her breaking the world record. Bol held a Dutch record of 1:54.81, better than what she set in Lausanne.

Men’s pole vault saw Mondo Duplantis and Emmanouil Karalis having an impressive pole vault contest that created history. Duplantis broke a world record of 6.25m while Karalis set the best Greek record of 6.00m. 

Anna Cockrell soared with a record of 52.13 seconds in the women’s 400m hurdles. Also, the Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi challenged Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati at the men’s 800m hurdles. At the end, it was Wanyonyi who went ahead and won with a 1:41.76 seconds to set a world-leading record. 

Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage came close to breaking a record held for 30 years in the sport. It was Anderson Peters, two-time world champion, who launched a 86.93m long throw in the opening round, but Pathirage was able to go further more to a distance of 88.23m in round two. With an advantage of 2 m, Pathirage set the javelin to  a staggering distance of 92.07m. 

The night in Switzerland saw some of the best stars shine brightly. The event's numerous standout performances let us witness a group of athletes, capable of achieving the heights they deserve.  

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