France's sole Paris Olympics athletics medallist Samba-Mayela to miss worlds
Olympic 100m hurdles silver medallist Cyrena Samba-Mayela announced Monday that she would not compete at next month's world championships in Tokyo.
Olympic Silver medallist Cyrena Samba-Mayela 🇫🇷 opens up her season at the Scottish Championships in Grangemouth!
— Track & Field Gazette (@TrackGazette) August 24, 2025
She finished 4th in the 100mH final with 13.37s, after running 13.30s in qualification.
It was a race to determine her fitness for selection for the Tokyo 2025… pic.twitter.com/KO48FmXnUi
"I've spent a good part of this year beset by two injuries in a row," Samba-Mayela said on social media.
"I pushed my limits, but despite all my efforts it wasn't enough to prepare for the world championships in the best conditions."
Samba-Mayela, who has a personal best of 12.31sec, was France's sole track and field medallist at the Paris Olympics last year.
But she had not run competitively since September 2024 before making her return to the track at the Scottish championships in Grangemouth at the weekend.
Olympic silver medalist Cyrena Samba-Mayela 🇫🇷 finishes fourth at the Scottish Championships on return from injury.
— Global Athletics Hub (@glblathletichub) August 24, 2025
The race was won by Charisma Taylor in 13.00s.
This race was to determine CSM’s selection for Worlds.pic.twitter.com/JZ3PHfMh2V
Samba-Mayela won her heat in Scotland, albeit in 13.30sec, her worst result since May 2022, before finishing fourth in the final in 13.37sec.
The world championships run from September 13-21 in the Japanese capital.
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