Masai Russell recently dropped a cryptic post on social media after her Shanghai Diamond League victory, reportedly hinting at one of her competitors. The competition took place on May 16, 2026, at the Shaoxing China Textile City Sports centre.

Russell delivered a powerful performance at the Shanghai Diamond League, once again solidifying her position in the women’s 100m hurdles. She stormed to victory, clocking a meet record of 12.25s, which is the fastest time in the world this season. The American faced a neck-to-neck competition against Devynne Charlton, who initially led the race; however, the Olympic champion took the lead in the final hurdles.

Charlton secured a second-place finish, clocking 12.38s, which was a new Bahamian national record, and in third place stood Tobi Amusan, who clocked 12.41s. Shortly after this victory, Russell stunned her fans by taking a subtle dig at her competitors, reportedly highlighting her and Ackera Nugent’s rivalry. She wrote:

“Well the aged well🤣 Let’s run it back same time next weekend🕺🏽God is good.”

Russell’s tweet

Nugent, who was the defending champion in Shanghai, registered a sixth-place finish, recording 12.98s. The Jamaican recently appeared on the ‘Bwoyatingz by Kareem’ podcast, where she spoke about defeating Russell and claiming the world record at the 2024 Paris Olympics if she hadn’t been injured.

“I promise you, I very much promise you in 2024 I would have been the world record holder if I hadn’t got injured at Olympics. Because you know I tweak my spine. I still do struggle with it a lot now. It’s an ongoing issue that I have. But in 2024, cuz if you watch Olympics, the way how I got out of that blocks, I was gone. And after that, I kept dominating the whole season. Um that is the most consistent 122 anybody have ever run in their life. Like I was going to literally win Olympics and break the world record,” said Nugent.

Masai Russell made her feelings known about her Shanghai Diamond League victory 

Following her clutch performance at the Shanghai Diamond League, Masai Russell spoke to the media, where she weighed in on her 100m hurdles victory. Exuding confidence in herself, she said that she entered the competition with the mindset to claim the title. Opening up about focusing on herself during the race and calling it a ‘dream come true,’ she said:

“I was not coming here to come second or third. My only mindset was just to win. During the competition, I just proceeded to shut out the noise and focused on what I could control. It was truly a dream come true. The gold medal tonight was just the beginning of the new season. I will execute my training plan, and I am looking forward to the upcoming events during the year,” said Masai Russell.

The Olympic champion opened her 2026 outdoor season on April 4 at the Texas Relays in Austin, where she won the 100m hurdles invitational with a time of 12.72s.