Cyrena Samba-Mayela is a French track and field athlete who competes in the 60m hurdles and 100m hurdles. She is a World Indoor gold and silver medalist, as well as a European champion, carrying national and championship records.
Cyrena Samba-Mayela was born on October 31, 2000, in Champigny-sur-Marne, France. She started in athletics as a child and proved her skills in hurdles. She holds European under-18 bests in the 60m and 100m hurdles and won the silver medals for the 100m hurdles at the 2017 World U18 Championships and 2021 European U23 Championships.
Cyrena Samba-Mayela started her competitive career in 2015, winning the 60m hurdles gold and 60m silver at the Eaubonne U18 Meeting. During the next season, she won the 60m hurdles silver at the Nantes French U18 Indoor Championships and the 100m hurdles gold at the Chateauroux French U18 Championships. By the end of the season, she competed at the Tbilisi European U18 Championships, winning 1000m sprint medley gold, but individually in 100m hurdles did not overcome the semi-finals.
In 2017, Cyrena Samba-Mayela made her first breakthrough, winning the 100m hurdles silver at the Nairobi IAAF World U18 Championships. At the national level, she won the 100m hurdles and 200m gold at the Dreux French U18 Championships but also debuted at the Bordeaux French Indoor Championships in 60m.
In 2018, Cyrena Samba-Mayela won the 100m hurdles bronze at the Bondoufle French U20 Championships, after triumphing with the gold at the Aubagne French Club Championships and Grenoble French Club Championships. At the Tampere IAAF World U20 Championships, she finished 8th in the 100m hurdles but made a great performance in the heats and semi-finals.
Cyrena Samba-Mayela started strongly in the 2019 season after finishing 5th at the Mediterranean U23 Indoor Championships but missed the competitions by the end of the year.
In 2020, Cyrena Samba-Mayela won the gold at the French U23 Indoor Championships in 60m and 60m hurdles. She won her first senior title at the Lievi French Indoor Championships in 60m hurdles, but in the same event also earned the bronze at the World Athletics Indoor Tour’s Villa de Madrid. During the outdoor season, Cyrena Samba-Mayela won the 100m hurdles gold at the Albi French Championships, but also at the Meeting Pro Athle Tour de Marseille and Janusz Kusocinski Memorial. She also competed at the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea in Roma but finished only 7th.
In 2021, Cyrena Samba-Mayela started the season by winning the 60m hurdles silver at the Meeting Elite en salle de Mondeville and Miramas French Indoor Championships, before winning the 100m hurdles gold at the Meeting Madrid 2021 and Angers French Championships. Her biggest achievement during the season was the 100m hurdles silver at the Tallinn European Athletics U23 Championships and competing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where unfortunately did not overcome the heats.
Cyrena Samba-Mayela proved to be one of the top hurdles in the world in 2022. She won the 60m hurdles title at the Beograd World Athletics Indoor Championships, as well as the gold at the Meeting de Paris Indoor and the silver at the INIT INDOOR MEETING Karlsruhe. During the outdoor season, she debuted in 100m hurdles at the Diamond League, finishing 4th at the Meeting de Paris and 5th at the Ooredoo Doha Meeting. Unfortunately, she did not earn an honor at the Munich European Athletics Championships and Eugene World Athletics Championships.
In 2023, Cyrena Samba-Mayela won the 60m silver medals at the Aubiere French Indoor Championships and World Indoor Tour Madrid 2023, before triumphing with the 100m hurdles gold honors at the Meeting International de Sotteville 2023, Albi French Championships, and Meeting International Montgeron-Essonne.
Cyrena Samba-Mayela won the 60m hurdles silver at the Glasgow World Athletics Indoor Championships in 2024, before triumphing with the 100m hurdles gold at the Roma European Athletics Championships, where she set a personal best and national and championship record at 12.31 sec. Meanwhile, she earned the 100m hurdles gold at the Prefontaine Classic, as well as the bronze at the USATF Los Angeles Grand Prix and Wanda Diamond League Xiamen. Earlier in the season, she won another national title, winning the 60m hurdles gold at the Miramas French Indoor Championships.
Cyrena Samba-Mayela photos
