Masai Russell Opens to Frustrations With Netflix Amidst Outrage Against Sprint: “No One Ducks Any Smoke”

Netflix has released its second season of Sprint, and it caused a stir, especially because it mostly focused on the USA’s track and field stars. The series gave very little screen time to giants like Letsile Tebogo, Akani Simbine, and Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith of Africa. Recently, sprinter Masai Russell expressed her desire to do something like Sprint for Hurdles as well.

In the latest episode of the Citius Mag podcast, Russell expressed her feelings about what more Netflix can do with her 2025 goals. The podcast host, Chris Chavez, asked Russell, “I’m just sitting here listening to all this, thinking it’s like Netflix missed out on falling you out for the whole season with all these ups and downs.” The 24-year-old has many accolades to her name, including gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the 100m hurdles, and as Russell talks about her Olympic win, her tattoos, and her goals, Chavez gets impressed by her and asks this question. What did she reply?

To the question, Russell laughed and said, “I know, I’m like, come on, Netflix! Like they need to start a hurdle. You know how they’ve got the Sprint going on?” The Netflix series is only based on Sprinters and not related to Hurdles; hence, Russell is requesting the same. The first season of Sprint was released on July 2, and later, on November 13, season 2 was released based on the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Going forward, Russell said, “I’m saying they need to start something for hurdles and throws. You know, everyone just has their own little season with their own thing going on.” It seems a genuine request, like Sprinter; all other events of the track are also important, hurdles for that matter.

She urges Netflix, “I think the women’s hurdles, it’s the time to showcase all our stories. You guys go head-to-head all the time; we go head-to-head every single weekend—no one ducks any smoke.” The Washington native urges Netflix, on behalf of all female athletes, to come forward and promote other events as well.

She further added, “I’m like, come on now, Netflix, like y’all are missing out on the hurdle era; like, this is the era that people would talk about, like, yeah, these girls were getting it, and we’re running times that, like, consistently that people didn’t even see, and the Olympics, so Netflix needs to jump on a story.” Russell expressed sentiments of the whole hurdles community, who have showcased their talent at the global level.

In the same podcast, the Olympic gold medalist also opened up on how Netflix chased her post-collegiate. She said, “I was another who they had followed all post-collegiate. Was informed I wasn’t making the cuts this season.” It was really heartbreaking for Russell; it would be disheartening for anyone, right? And that’s the reason why Chavez said Netflix missed out on something. Apart from Netflix, Masai Russell has her priorities set for the near future.

Masai Russell has her goals set for 2025

Russell has broken the collegiate record in the 60 m hurdles, with a clock time of 7.75 seconds in 2023, defeating Grace Stark (7.78). She has also conquered the 2024 Olympics podium in the 100 m hurdles and is now looking for a big dream ahead. What’s that?

She wants to compete in the Millrose Games 2025 on the 60m hurdles. She explained, “Last year I wasn’t able to be a part of [Millrose Games] because it was my first year on the professional circuit.” Last year, Russell focused on the US Championships, as she had seen her seniors and pros competing in the Millrose Games; she envisioned herself competing.

Masai Russell is not only going to compete in the Millrose Games (February 2025) but is also scheduled to participate in Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track (GST), which is scheduled for April to September 2025. However, she revealed the dark side of track and field because of the confusing broadcasting structure of the sport. The upcoming year is going to be exciting for Masai Russell and so is for her fans.