"I barely slept last night"- Masai Russell opens up on anticipation for 100m hurdles finals after clinching gold in photo finish at the Paris Olympics

By Animesh Pandey

Modified Aug 11, 2024 10:01 GMT

Masai Russell brought smiles to the American camp at the Paris Olympics courtesy of her gold medal in the women's 100m hurdles. Despite tough competition from defending champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn and Cyrena Samba-Mayela, the 24-year-old hurdler edged it out in a close race ultimately decided via a photo finish.

An excited Russell couldn't suppress her feelings as she revealed her feelings after winning the gold medal.

According to her interview with "NBC", Masai Russell said, (via "@NBCOlympics" on X),

"Yeah...., the wait wasn't too long. I was just hoping that my name popped up first. This is what I was really dreaming of."

Russell also mentioned that she was restless and lost sleep in anticipation of the final she had worked so hard to get to.

"I could barely sleep last night, because I was thinking of literally, my name coming up number one. And when it came up, I was like, this is what I dreamed of and prayed for. I worked so hard for every moment. This is literally a dream come true."

Masai Russell's Olympic gold medal in 100m hurdles is also the second time in eight years since an American sprinter won it at the Olympics. Brianna Rollins-McNeal won it at the Rio Olympics 2016 in a rare podium sweep, where Nia Ali and Kristi Castlin won the silver and the bronze medals in the same event.

Interestingly, with Masai Russell's victory, for the first time in four decades, USA has won Olympic gold in both men's and women's 100m hurdles. Grant Holloway recently won the gold medal for the USA in the 110m hurdles event.

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Masai Russell's performance at the Paris Olympics

Masai Russell [Right] in action at the finals of the 100m hurdles at Paris Olympics [Image Source: Getty]

The 24-year-old hurdler from Potomac, Maryland was participating in her first major international event since the 2023 World Championships. However, the American athlete proved her credentials with a world-leading time of 12.25 during the US Olympics trials, just a notch above defending champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn's Olympic record of 12.26 seconds.

Russell won the Heat 3 with an impressive timing of 12.53 seconds. However, she was nowhere near Quinn, who clocked 12.42 seconds to qualify for the finals. Quinn and Russell faced each other in the semifinals, where the Olympic champion from Puerto Rico overcame the American challenge easily, with a timing of 12.35 seconds. The current world record holder for this event, Tobi Amusan, had also made it to the Paris Olympics but missed out on the finals by a whisker.

However, the finals were a different story. Against all odds, Russell emerged to be the Olympic champion, ahead of Cyrena Samba-Mayela of France and Jasmine Camacho Quinn of Puerto Rico in the photo finish. While Masai Russell clocked 12.33 seconds, Mayela and Quinn clocked 12.34 and 12.36 seconds to win the silver and the bronze medals, respectively.