Diamond League: Dos Santos and Russell make their entry into the history books

Two World records were broken less than 40 minutes apart at the Diamond League in Zurich on Thursday (August 27, 2026), with 400m hurdler Alison dos Santos of Brazil making his way into the history books and Masai Russell of the USA breaking the women’s 100m hurdles mark.

Dos Santos crossed the line in 45.80 seconds to take 0.14 seconds off the record set by Karsten Warholm of Norway at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. “I have been showing great form throughout the season… I am fast and I am strong,” said a confident Dos Santos, with Warholm (46.69s) finishing second and dubbing their discipline a “crazy event”.

Nigeria’s (47.50s) Ezekiel Nathaniel was third. “As soon as I knew that I was coming here, I was excited. The weather is good, the track is amazing.” The 26-year-old was the 2022 World champion and is a two-time Olympic bronze medallist.

Russell, the 2024 Olympic gold winner, set a time of 12.09 seconds, which is 0.03s faster than the previous record held by Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan. Amusan was second in a season-best effort of 12.23s while European champion Nadine Visser came third in 12.34s.

Both Dos Santos and Russell will leave Zurich with a cheque for $80,000 each. “When I heard that Alison dos Santos broke the World record, in the back of my mind, I was trying to focus and be locked in. But I knew that the track was hot,” Russell said. “I got a lot of motivation from him,” added the 26-year-old.

Sri Lankan javelin thrower Rumesh Pathirage extended his excellent run, producing a massive 92.07 throw to capture the top spot. He came up with the winning throw in his sixth attempt. The reigning Commonwealth Games champion was at the peak of his powers, finishing way ahead of Granada’s Anderson Peters, who touched 86.23m. Poland’s Dawid Wegner took the third spot with his personal-best throw of 85.16 m.