"No joke" - Masai Russell makes her feelings known as she transitions to outdoor season after winning USA indoor title

Masai Russell shared a training update as she prepares for the transition to the outdoor season. The Paris Olympics 100m hurdles gold medalist began the year with strong performances with her recent exploits coming at the 2025 USATF Indoor Championships where she won the indoor hurdles title.

At the championships, Russell won the 60m hurdles with a timing of 7.74s, ahead of Grace Stark who recorded 7.76s. Following the performance, she has focused on shifting from indoor to outdoor competitions.

The 24-year-old shared an update on how the transition has been going so far, posting a short video selfie where she appeared tired. Masai Russell captioned the story, writing:

“Transitioning from the 60H to 100H is no joke😭”

Screenshot of Masai Russell’s Instagram story. Credits - IG/ masai_russell

Russell, who narrowly missed out on a podium finish in the 60m hurdles at last year’s World Indoor Championships, will not be participating in this year’s event, scheduled from March 21 to 23 in China.

Masai Russell revealed in a post-event interview at the USA Indoors that the timing of the championships was too close to the outdoor season competitions, resulting in her decision to end her indoor campaign at the Nationals.

Masai Russell reveals her mother as her biggest motivation and in what ways she inspired her

Masai Russell at Paris Olympics (Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)

Masai Russell revealed that her mother, Dr. Sharon Russell, is her biggest inspiration and shared how she has motivated her in her career and life’s journey. She elaborated on her mother’s influence during a February 2025 interview on the Journey to Gold Zone podcast, hosted by USA Track and Field, stating:

“Yeah, I think for me, this is like a different answer that a lot of people probably will be confused about. But, my biggest inspiration is honestly my mother because she is a doctor. She's a black doctor. She is the first person in our family to do anything that she's ever done. And I mean, I'm kind of the same way. Like I just kind of follow her lead.

“She showed what hard work looked like. She showed what dedication looked like, even though it wasn't on the track like me. She showed what grind was…I was able to see that as a young girl. I was looking up, I looked up to my mom. I'm like, wow, she's getting a job done, doesn't matter when she is, how she's feeling, what the day is, what the time is. My mom always got up and went to work.”

Notably, Sharon works as an oral and maxillofacial surgeon in Maryland. She earned two bachelor's degrees from UMass honors in biology and cum laude in nursing and also pursued a doctorate with honors from Howard University's College of Dental Medicine.