Potomac’s Masai Russell won the women’s 100-meter hurdle final Saturday by the tiniest of margins—.01 seconds—earning a gold medal as she crossed the line just ahead of her competitors during the 2024 Olympic Summer Games.
Russell and her fellow hurdlers had to wait before finding out who would take home the gold medal. “Look how anxiously they’re looking up at the screen,” an NBC announcer said as the runners stared upward. “They’re waiting for confirmation.
Within seconds, Russell leaped into the air as she realized she had won.
“The Olympic debutante is an Olympic champion,” the NBC announcer yelled.
Russell, a 24-year-old graduate of the private Bullis School in Potomac, claimed a spot Friday to compete in the final.
She grabbed the final qualifying spot in her heat after placing second in the semi-finals with a time of 12.42 seconds, according to the Olympics results. In the same heat, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, 27, of Puerto Rico, the defending champion from the Tokyo games, crossed the finish line first with a time of 12.35 seconds.
Russell was joined in the race by U.S. teammates Grace Stark and Alaysha Johnson on either side.
Russell is a 2018 graduate of Potomac’s Bullis School, which is also where Quincy Wilson, 16, the youngest male U.S. track and field Olympian in history, attends school. Wilson, a rising junior at Bullis, will compete in the U.S. men’s 4×400 relay final, scheduled for 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Saturday.
On Wednesday, Russel claimed a spot in the semi-finals after winning her first-ever Olympic race with a time of 12.52 seconds, On3 reported.
Russell earned her spot on the U.S. Olympic Track and Field team in June after finishing in first place and setting an Olympic trials record at 12.25 seconds at the trials in Eugene, Oregon. Her time broke a 24-year-old meet record that had been held by Gail Devers (12.33 seconds).
After the trials race, Russell spoke to NBC’s Lewis Johnson about securing her spot to compete in the Paris Olympics.
“I have so many emotions because this has been the hardest season of my life. People were doubting me. Talking about ever since I signed with Nike I’ve been trash,” Russell said. “Just saying all these things about me. But I just stayed true to myself, my work and my craft and this is all God.”