Sports
Tobi Amusan Finishes Second as Masai Russell Wins in Budapest
Tobi Amusan finished second in the women's 100m hurdles at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest as Masai Russell won in 12.22 seconds.
Nigeria's Tobi Amusan finished second in the women's 100m hurdles at the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest on Friday.
Amusan clocked 12.34 seconds in the final, finishing behind United States Olympic and Diamond League champion Masai Russell, who won in 12.22 seconds. The Netherlands' Nadine Visser completed the top three in 12.39 seconds.
The result gave Russell another victory in a remarkable 2026 season. The American entered the Budapest final as the clear favourite after breaking Amusan's world record with a time of 12.09 seconds at the Diamond League meeting in Zurich at the end of August.
Russell maintained her unbeaten record for the year with Friday's victory, adding the inaugural Ultimate Championship title to her achievements this season.
For Amusan, the second-place finish marked a strong performance against a field led by the athlete who recently surpassed her world record.
The Nigerian former world record holder had previously set the world record at 12.12 seconds at the 2022 Diamond League meeting in Stockholm before lowering it to 12.12 again in the same season's World Championships in Eugene. Russell subsequently broke the mark with her 12.09-second run in Zurich.
Speaking after her race, Amusan reflected on the challenges she had experienced during the season and said she approached the championship determined to give everything she had.
“First, God is good,” Amusan said.
She added that her body had experienced difficulties during the season but that she arrived in Budapest with a determined mindset.
“Coming into this championship, my mindset going to the line was, ‘We die here.’ I just kept telling myself I have to give it my all,” she said.
The Budapest event is the first edition of the World Athletics Ultimate Championship, a new three-day competition bringing together many of the world's leading athletes from September 11 to 13.
Unlike traditional championships, the event does not use conventional medal awards. Instead, it features a new competition format and a $10 million prize fund, with individual event winners earning $150,000.
Amusan's second-place finish therefore gives her a strong result at the inaugural event, while Russell's victory further underlines her dominance in the women's 100m hurdles in 2026.
