"It's crazy" - Masai Russell makes her feelings known on milestone achievement as 2024 manifestation comes true on New Year

Masai Russell has expressed gratitude for reaching a milestone of 500K followers on Instagram. The American hurdler enjoyed a breakthrough rookie season in 2024, winning the gold medal in her Olympic debut at the Paris Games.

Russell revealed in an Instagram story on Wednesday (Jan. 1) that she had envisioned accumulating half a million followers on the platform through the whole of 2024, with the wish finally coming true on January 1st, 2025. The Olympic champion was ecstatic about the achievement, acknowledging and sharing the power of the manifestation.

"It's crazy how I had 500k on my vision board for all of 2024, and on the first day of 2025, it came true. I'm here to tell you that whatever you manifest, write down, or speak won't always come in the form you expect, but eventually, it will happen when it's meant to," she wrote.

The 24-year-old also expressed gratitude to fans and said she looked forward to reaching a million followers.

"Thank you all for your support and 500,000 of you guys love 🫶 road to a milliiii," Masai Russell added.

Masai Russell's Instagram story

Russell's massive increase in Instagram followers resulted from incredible performances through the 2024 season. The University of Kentucky graduate won the national indoor title in the 60m hurdles before winning the outdoor national title in the 100m hurdles to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The 24-year-old was the gold medal contender at the Games despite making her debut, having previously clocked 12.25s at the U.S. Olympic Trials. She clocked 12.33s to win the 100m hurdles Olympic title, beating France's Cyrena Semba-Mayela by 0.01s in the finals.

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Masai Russell credits 'devastating' results in 2024 indoor season for Olympic success

Buffalo Bills v Baltimore Ravens - Masai Russell in attendance (Source: Getty)

After winning the U.S. National Indoor title in the 60m hurdles on her first attempt, Masai Russell was confident of winning a medal at the World Indoor Championships. However, she narrowly missed the podium by 0.02s and was devastated.

The 24-year-old incorporated the learnings from the event, and after winning the outdoor national title in 100m hurdles, she made sure to not repeat the mistakes at the Paris Olympics.

“It was pretty devastating. I missed out on a medal by just being leaned out but I wasn’t going to make the same mistake in the outdoor season," she told World Athletics in an interview.

Russell leaned at the perfect moment during the 100m hurdles finals in Paris, edging out the rest of field by 0.01s to win the gold. She is now set to start her 2025 indoor season at the Milrose Games on February 8.