Alison dos Santos and Masai Russell break hurdles world records at Zurich Diamond League

Double world record breakthrough in Zurich

Track and field competition at the Zurich Diamond League on 27 August 2026 produced two world records within 40 minutes at the Letzigrund stadium. Brazil's Alison dos Santos and American Olympic champion Masai Russell each broke world marks in their respective hurdle disciplines. The meeting in Switzerland brought together Olympic medalists across multiple track and field events ahead of next month's World Athletics Ultimate Championships. Alongside the two world hurdle standards, the programme featured national records and world-leading times in sprint and middle-distance races.

Dos Santos defeats Warholm in 400m hurdles

In the men's 400-metre hurdles, Alison dos Santos took the world record from Norway's Karsten Warholm by clocking 45.80 seconds. The 26-year-old Brazilian pulled away over the final 100 metres and off the final bend to lower Warholm's Tokyo 2021 Olympic mark of 45.94 seconds by 0.14 seconds. Warholm, 30, finished second in 46.69 seconds, while Nigeria's Ezekiel Nathaniel placed third in 46.50 seconds. The victory extended dos Santos's head-to-head record against Warholm to five wins from five races this season. Dos Santos, who previously won world championship gold in Eugene in 2022 and silver in 2025 alongside Olympic bronzes in Tokyo and Paris, celebrated on the track with the Brazilian flag.

Dos Santos spoke to Norwegian television following his race:

We have talked about it for so long, now we have done it. I am so proud and happy. I have dreamed of this for so long. But I think I can do even better. I know I can run even faster.

Warholm acknowledged his competitor after the race concluded:

He was brilliant. It is incredible. There is nothing more to say about it. It was a crazy race.

Russell takes women's 100m hurdles standard

Forty minutes after the men's 400-metre hurdles, Masai Russell broke the women's 100-metre hurdles world record with a run of 12.09 seconds in zero wind conditions. Russell, the reigning Paris 2024 Olympic champion, pulled away over the final barrier to better the previous standard of 12.12 seconds set by Nigeria's Tobi Amusan at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene. Amusan finished second at Letzigrund in 12.23 seconds, her fastest time of the season, while Nadine Visser of the Netherlands claimed third place in 12.34 seconds.

Sprints and field events round out the programme

The Zurich meeting delivered fast times across other track disciplines, including a photo-finish in the women's 100 metres. Saint Lucia's Olympic champion Julien Alfred won the flat sprint in a national record time of 10.70 seconds, edging American Melissa Jefferson-Wooden on identical times, while Sha'Carri Richardson placed third in 10.97 seconds. In the men's 800 metres, Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi posted the fastest time in the world this season, winning in 1:41.76 to beat Algeria's Djamel Sedjati (1:41.83). In field events, Sweden's Armand Duplantis won the pole vault competition at 6.25 metres ahead of Greece's Emmanouil Karalis. In the men's 1,500 metres, American Cole Hocker won in 3:31.71, with German record holder Robert Farken finishing eighth in 3:32.63. Kenya's Faith Cherotich secured victory in the women's 3,000-metre steeplechase in 8:55.82, ahead of European champion Gesa Krause in sixth place (9:12.27), Lea Meyer in seventh (9:13.50), and Olivia Gürth in eighth with a personal best of 9:15.07.