American Masai Russell wins Olympic gold in 100m hurdles in photo finish
America's Masai Russell won a photo finish Saturday in the women's 100-meter hurdles, where the biggest cheer came for Cyréna Samba-Mayela, whose silver medal marks the first of any color for France at the Olympic track meet.
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The 24-year-old flew over the line in 12.33 seconds, edging France's Cyrena Samba-Mayela by just 0.01s. Defending champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico followed in third place with 12.36s.
Russell seemingly came from nowhere to overtake her rivals and end Camacho-Quinn's hopes of making history as the first woman to win back-to-back Olympic golds in the event.
While she had no major titles behind her name heading into the Games, Russell highlighted her star quality at the 2024 US Olympic Trials, clocking a personal and world-leading time of 12.25s - which would rank her the fourth-fastest in history.
The rising star broke the legendary Gail Devers’ 24-year-old Trials record in the process.
In Paris, Russell beat a stacked field as she surged towards the line after sailing over the final hurdle before out-dipping Samba-Mayela and Camacho-Quinn by mere hundredths of a second.
Now, Samba-Mayela gave them a moment to cheer in person. It's a nice break for a country with a rich track tradition, producing Olympic champions such as Marie-José Pérec and Renaud Lavillenie.
Even with this medal, France remains without an Olympic gold on the track since Lavillenie won the pole vault in 2012.
