DESPITE not getting on the podium at the Paris Olympics this summer, Ackera Nugent says she’s living the dream after further lowering her national record and registering the fourth-fastest time in the history of the Women’s 100m Hurdles.

The 22-year-old executed near to perfection at last Friday’s Diamond League in Rome, Italy, clocking a world-leading 12.24 seconds in a slightly negative headwind while beating Olympic Champion Masia Russell who was second in 12.31. Nugent bettered her personal best of 12.28 seconds, set at the JAAA/Puma National Senior Championships in June at the National Stadium.

“It means a lot to me, just being able to see myself living out the dream that I’ve always wanted for myself and just seeing everything coming together. It’s a great feeling,” she said.

“I’m in really good shape. I know that I was in great shape in Paris but you know things happen. I wasn’t really at my best there, and that’s fine; it’s a learning experience for now. It’s just about enjoying what I do and coming out here… and just see where it can get me until the end of the season.”

The Excelsior High and University of Arkansas graduate made her debut at the Olympics last month and was strongly considered as a medal favourite due to her impressive form throughout the season.

However, she was unable to get on the podium as she didn’t finish the final due to a mishap with the hurdles.

Nugent, however, doesn’t view this as a disappointment as she believes her moment in glory will come.

“I learned something because I was the youngest in the field — so I was competing against ladies that have been doing it, they know how to show up and all of that stuff — so just being an Olympian at the age of 22, that’s a great feeling,” she said.

“It’s just me stepping into the future of myself to see that I’m able to do this, so it’s just like I have to trust myself and just enjoy — you win some, you lose some. I have so many more years in the sport that I can [use to] develop and grow because I know that the Lord is greater than gold, so when I serve a living God he’s going to show up for me when He knows I’m ready to receive stuff so I’ll just trust the Lord and just enjoy life.”

In terms of performances, Nugent is proving to be one of the best sprint hurdlers of all time as she’s run sub-12.30 seconds four times this year. The only other women to do so are world record holder Tobi Amusan and former world record holders Kendra Harrison and Yordanka Donkova.

She’s expected to close out her season at the Diamond League finals in Brussels later this month but she isn’t promising any more records for 2024.

“I really don’t know. I don’t know what else my body can give for the rest of the season but we’re just hanging in there. We’re just enjoying the different cities; this is my first time going to certain places so it’s just living in the moment and just taking the exposure,” said Nugent.