LeBron James and Masai Russell. PHOTO: Both from Getty Images
American hurdler Masai Russell recalled her encounter with basketball legend LeBron James during the Olympic village at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Russell had a phenomenal Olympic campaign which saw her win the gold medal in the women’s 100m hurdles at the quadrennial games.
Earlier, Russell made it to the USA squad for the Paris Olympics after her impressive outing at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials. In the finals of the 100m hurdles at the trials, she stunned everyone by running a personal best time of 12.25s, also the fourth quickest timing in the world over the distance.
Following reaching Paris, she encountered the NBA all-time top scorer LeBron James during the Olympic village where she asked the basketball icon for a picture. She recalled the time spent with the 39-year-old in an interview with Essence.com, adding:
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“Meeting LeBron James. He was so big. Like, huge. And he was just super down to earth when I met him. We got to take a picture, and I was very happy about that.”
Masai Russell also mentioned that she proudly shared the moment with her brother and boyfriend, Robbie Springfield, stating:
“I was bragging to my brother and my boyfriend – I know they were jealous.”
In addition to being an Olympic gold medalist, Masai Russell is known for being an NCAA record holder in the 100m hurdles, a feat which she accomplished by clocking a time of 12.36s at the Texas Relays in April 2023 while representing the University of Kentucky.
Although she narrowly missed out on a medal by finishing fourth at the World Athletics Indoor Championships, Russell bounced back by clocking a sensational 12.33s to claim the prestigious gold at the Paris Olympics.
Masai Russell’s encounter with Suni Lee and Jordan Chiles at Paris Olympics 2024 village
Masai Russell at the Paris Olympics 2024. (Photo by Andy Cheung/Getty Images)
In addition to meeting LeBron James, Masai Russell met old friends Suni Lee and Jordan Chiles during the Olympic village of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Russell had become friends with Lee and Chiles through the shared endorsement and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals.
Notably, the six-time Olympic medalist Lee shared a story on her Instagram celebrating Russell’s gold-medal victory at the Paris Olympics. She captioned the story:
“CHILLSSSS😭🥇🥇🥇 that girllll i’m so proud ❤️ @masai_russell”
In addition to Russell, both Lee and Chiles also contributed to the USA’s medal table at the Paris Olympics. Lee earned three medals, including a gold in the women’s all-around team event and two bronze medals in the individual all-around and uneven bars.
On the other hand, Chiles secured a gold medal with the team but faced a setback when she lost her bronze medal in the floor exercise after an appeal by the Romanian Gymnastics Federation.
