Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan finished fourth in the women’s 100 metres hurdles at the 2026 Wanda Diamond League Final in Brussels, Belgium, after clocking 12.54 seconds in a highly competitive race won by American Olympic champion Masai Russell.
Amusan, the former world record holder in the event, produced the same time as the Netherlands’ Nadine Visser, who was placed fifth after the two athletes were separated by a photo finish. Blueprint reports
Russell claimed the Diamond League Trophy after crossing the line in 12.20 seconds, continuing her remarkable dominance in the event.
Bahamas’ Devynne Charlton finished second in 12.33 seconds, while Jamaica’s Megan Simmonds completed the podium in 12.43 seconds.
The Brussels final brought together eight of the leading hurdlers on the Diamond League circuit and provided another major test for Amusan at the end of the 2026 season.
Amusan’s 12.54 seconds was not enough to secure a place on the podium, but the Nigerian was involved in a tight battle with Visser for fourth position.
Both athletes were credited with exactly the same time, forcing officials to rely on the photo finish to determine their final positions.
The result means Amusan narrowly missed out on a top-three finish despite running under 12.60 seconds in a field packed with world-class competitors.
Her performance also underlined her continued competitiveness among the world’s elite hurdlers, even as a new generation of athletes continues to challenge her long-standing dominance of the event.
Amusan has remained one of Nigeria’s most accomplished track and field athletes, having won the Diamond League 100m hurdles title three consecutive times in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
For Russell, the Brussels victory capped another outstanding Diamond League campaign.
The American crossed the line in 12.20 seconds to claim the Diamond Trophy, extending a remarkable run that has seen her dominate the event throughout the season.
According to results from the Brussels final, Russell had won all seven of her Diamond League races in 2026 before Saturday’s final, making her victory another emphatic statement of her current form.
Her latest triumph came only days after she stunned the athletics world in Zurich by setting a new women’s 100m hurdles world record of 12.09 seconds.
That performance saw Russell break Amusan’s previous world record of 12.12 seconds, which the Nigerian had set at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene.
Russell subsequently arrived in Brussels as the overwhelming favourite and justified that status by securing another victory.
The changing balance of power in women’s hurdles has given Amusan a new challenge.
For much of the past few seasons, the Nigerian was one of the athletes setting the pace for the rest of the field. Her 12.12-second world record in 2022 established her as the fastest woman ever over the hurdles at the time.
She followed that achievement with a Diamond League hat-trick and continued to maintain her position among the sport’s leading athletes.
Russell’s recent world-record performance, however, has changed the conversation around the event.
The American’s 12.09-second run in Zurich placed her at the top of the all-time list and added another layer to what has become one of the most competitive events in global athletics. Reuters reported after the Zurich race that Russell believed she had reached a new level and was capable of going even faster.
Amusan still among world’s best
Despite missing the podium in Brussels, Amusan remains one of the most decorated hurdlers of her generation.
The Nigerian has won the World Championships, Commonwealth Games and African Championships titles, while also establishing herself as a regular contender on the Diamond League circuit.
Her consistency at the highest level has made her one of the most recognisable names in Nigerian athletics.
Amusan’s fourth-place finish in Brussels also came against a field that included several of the strongest hurdlers currently competing internationally.
Russell took gold, Charlton claimed silver and Simmonds finished third, while Visser was fifth after losing the photo finish to Amusan.
Poland’s Pia Skrzyszowska finished sixth in 12.64 seconds, followed by American Alaysha Johnson in 12.66, while Belgium’s Yaríla Ndjip-Nyemeck finished eighth in 12.93 seconds.
The Brussels meeting brought the 2026 Diamond League season to its conclusion, with athletes competing for the prestigious Diamond Trophy and the opportunity to finish the campaign on a high.
The final also served as an important build-up to the World Athletics Ultimate Championships scheduled for Budapest next week.
The competition in Brussels featured several of the biggest names in world athletics, with athletes using the meeting as their final major test before turning their attention to Budapest.
World Athletics had highlighted Russell among the leading stars returning to action in Brussels after her record-breaking performance in Zurich.
For Amusan, the fourth-place finish provides another opportunity to assess her progress against the world’s best as she prepares for the next phase of the season.
Although she could not secure another Diamond League podium in Brussels, her 12.54 seconds showed that she remains capable of competing at a high level.
The Nigerian will now turn her attention to the next major challenge on the athletics calendar, with the World Athletics Ultimate Championships in Budapest providing another opportunity to test herself against Russell and the rest of the global elite.
With Russell now holding the world record and enjoying exceptional form, Amusan faces perhaps one of the most significant challenges of her career.
But the Nigerian has repeatedly demonstrated her ability to respond when expectations are high.
Her fourth-place finish in Brussels may not have delivered the Diamond Trophy, but it keeps her firmly among the leading names in women’s 100m hurdles as the 2026 season enters its final stretch.
