In Pictures: Masai Russell gets honoured by Big Blue Nation at Krogers Stadium after winning gold medal at Paris Olympics

Masai Russell was recently honored by the University of Kentucky for her Paris Olympic success. The Kentucky Wildcats athlete won her maiden 100m hurdles gold at the 2024 Paris Games, clocking a stellar 12.33s in the finals.

Russell, 24, clocked 12.25s (PB) in the 100m hurdles at the 2024 US Olympic Trials and finished on top. Her effort qualified her for the Games, where she clinched the gold with a time of 12.33s, leaving behind Tokyo Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, who won bronze after clocking 12.36s.

Shortly after her victory in the French capital, Masai Russell graced the Kroger Field in Lexington, Kentucky with the gold around her neck. Amid the Kentucky Bulldogs and Georgia Bulldogs football match, she flaunted her medal, and the crowd erupted in cheers.

The UK Athletics and Kentucky Track Instagram page shared a collaborative post featuring pictures of the American hurdler walking around with her gold medal with the caption:

"Masai brought home the gold! BBN is so proud of you, @masai_russell."

After lifting her Olympic victory, Masai Russell took to her X post to share a post coated with confidence.

"Don’t ever play with me," her X post read.

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The NCAA record holder not only clocked a personal best time at the 2024 Olympic Trials but also lowered the 24-year-old US Trials record set by Gail Devers. Her maiden qualification for the Games prompted Russell to share an inspirational story since she struggled to run a good race for a while.

"Had the WORST season of my life & im now a freaking Olympian was fighting for my life to run 12.6 a couple weeks ago, yesterday I broke a 24 year old Olympic Trials record. Man God is awesome," her X caption read.

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The 24-year-old holds a personal best time of 54.66s over the 400m hurdles and 7.75s over the 60m hurdles.

Masai Russell after her Silesia Diamond League - "I just want to just not put too much pressure on myself"

The Olympic Games-Paris 2024 - Source: Getty

Masai Russell finished fourth in the 100m hurdles in 12.40s at the Silesia Diamond League, narrowly missing out on the podium after her Games victory. In a post-race interview, she shared her plans of not putting too much pressure on her herself. She said (via "@FloTrack" on X):

"I think I just want to just not put too much pressure on myself, and just have fun with it. I appreciate the new fans, I won't make them not happy, and yeah, I just want to just keep having fun coz that's when like the fast times come," she said.

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Masai Russell finished third at the 2023 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships and earned a spot on the Worlds roster. However, she hit the second hurdle in her race in Budapest and ended her Worlds run.

About the author

Agnijeeta is a US Olympics journalist at Sportskeeda. She holds a Master’s degree in English and has worked as a school teacher, a blogger, a content writer and a sports writer over the past 5 years. A lover of high-adrenaline track and field events, she was also a sprinter during her school days.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone happens to be her favorite Olympian, and the athlete’s feat of breaking four records within 13 months inspires her, apart from the American's body language on and off the track. Grant Hackett swimming with a partially dysfunctional lung and winning gold in Athens is her all-time favorite Olympic moment.

Agnijeeta believes that deriving of unique angles from podcasts and interviews carried out by Olympics.com, along with hype-building of potential Olympic events on social media can help fill the coverage gap during the off season.

When not at her work desk, Agnijeeta likes to sing and paint. She also plays string instruments like guitar and ukulele and is an avid player of word puzzles.

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Edited by Shirsh