'It was a very emotional time for me'- Masai Russell details feelings

Masai Russell used the disappointment of missing the 2023 World Championships final to fuel her journey toward winning the 2024 Olympic 100m hurdles title, sharing how the setback motivated her comeback.

Reigning Olympic 100m hurdles champion Masai Russell has opened up on how tough it was for her to miss the final at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary and how she used that disappointment to win the Olympic title at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Speaking on the Ready Set Go podcast, Masai Russell disclosed that it was an emotional moment for her since she was expecting to get to the final of the race and hopefully finish among the top three. In the race, Masai Russell hit a hurdle and could not finish the race despite having one of the best starts and having finished second in the semifinal.

Masai Russell could not also rule out the fact that she had been impressive in other races, setting the collegiate record earlier in the season, winning at the Texas Relays in Austin in 12.36 seconds.

Gabby Thomas, Masai Russell, Athing Mu, Justin Gatlin and other athletes congratulate Noah Lyles & Junelle Bromfield after engagement

“It was definitely a very emotional time for me because I did really see myself making it to that World Championship final and when I hit the hurdle, I like literally couldn’t believe it and I just saw the race run away from me,” Masai Russell said.

“I kind of held it together when I did the NBC interview I was like ‘All right’ like on national TV I had to hold it together because, at the end of the day, I knew I had an amazing season. I had broken the collegiate record that year like I had the best season of my life and you know at the biggest stage at that point it didn’t go right, I’m like you know that was my first time but I’m going to be back for sure,” she added.

She added that speaking in an interview with Tiara Williams on her channel Real Talk with Tee, she was able to open up about how it felt flopping on such a big stage and showing the world that things do not usually go right every time.

Masai Russell added that being able to bounce back after a hard time was a testimony and seeing where she had come from was proof that despite the major setbacks, bouncing back is always possible.

“When I ended up speaking up to Tee, my brand and who I am, I’m a very transparent person and you can tell from our meeting five minutes ago. I’m just who I am, I’ll show the good and the bad and when she recorded I said it’s okay,” she added.

“I wanted people to see and understand that you can be on top of the world, you can break records, and you can never touch a hurdle but you know it’s one moment that can humble you and come back and I have been through so much this year but I didn’t forget that video about how I felt in that video but just seeing that video paired with my Olympic win was just like crazy and it was just like crazy. I give myself so much props because even at the lowest moment I was just speaking highly of what was to become.”

Jamaican sprint legend Veronica Campbell-Brown agrees with Noah Lyles on the mentality athletes should possess