“Los Angeles is always in my mind, and every competition I take part in will be like a stepping stone toward those Games.” That was the dream of 25-year-old Cyréna Samba-Mayela, and it looked like she was moving closer to it. On June 20, 2026, the Olympic silver medalist won the 100m hurdles at the ATX Classic in Georgetown, Texas, clocking 12.50 seconds. The time was her best since the Paris 2024 Olympics and, at the time, ranked second in Europe for 2026 behind Nadine Visser’s 12.47. But unfortunately, just as Samba-Mayela appeared to be finding her way back, a new setback has put her Olympic plans under uncertainty.

The Athletics Integrity Unit announced on September 25 that the French hurdler had been provisionally suspended over three whereabouts failures. The suspension has been in force since September 18. Under anti-doping rules, three whereabouts failures within a 12-month period can constitute an anti-doping rule violation and can lead to a suspension of up to two years. 

The case does not mean Samba-Mayela tested positive for a banned substance. Her representative told AFP that she had never returned a positive anti-doping test and said, “The procedure in question is proceeding before the AIU and relates exclusively to administrative whereabouts obligations, and not to the use of any substance. She continues to respond within the allotted time and to cooperate fully.” (Translated from French into English using Google Translate).

The French Athletics Federation also acknowledged the provisional suspension, saying it had “taken note of the decision by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) to provisionally suspend athlete Cyréna Samba-Mayela for failing to comply with her whereabouts obligations.” The federation added that, “In accordance with current procedures, the FFA allows the investigation of this case to continue to its conclusion by the competent authorities.”

The latest development comes after what has already been a difficult 2026 season for Samba-Mayela. Her last completed race came on July 14 at the Gyulai István Memorial in Budapest. Samba-Mayela finished ninth in the 100m hurdles in 13.09 seconds. After that, her progress was soon interrupted again.

On June 28, she withdrew from the Paris Diamond League meeting after feeling a problem in her left hamstring during the warm-up.  The physical problems continued into July. On July 27, Samba-Mayela announced that she would miss the European Championships in Birmingham, held from August 10 to 16, where she had been due to defend her 100m hurdles title.

She said she had been dealing with “physical pain” for several weeks. Despite working with her team to return in the best possible condition, she said her preparation had been “strongly disrupted.” Now, just as Samba-Mayela was beginning to find her way back after another difficult stretch, she is facing a new setback. The provisional suspension has not resulted in a final sanction, but it comes after a 2025 season that was already heavily disrupted by injuries.

2025 tested Samba-Mayela after her Olympic breakthrough

Samba-Mayela’s journey on the international stage began in 2017, when she won silver in the 100m hurdles at the World U18 Championships in Nairobi at just 16 years old. Four years later, she added another major junior medal, taking silver at the European U23 Championships in Tallinn. Her breakthrough at the senior level came in 2022. Samba-Mayela won the 60m hurdles title at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, becoming world indoor champion in 7.78 seconds.

She continued to build on that success in 2024. At the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow, she won silver in the 60m hurdles after running 7.74 seconds in the final. A few months later, she became European champion in the 100m hurdles in Rome, winning in a French-record 12.31 seconds. Then came the biggest moment of her career at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Samba-Mayela won silver in the 100m hurdles in 12.34 seconds, finishing just 0.01 seconds behind American Masai Russell. 

But the momentum from that breakthrough season was followed by a difficult 2025 campaign. After changing coaches in the autumn and moving to Austin to work with former Olympic medalist Tonja Buford-Bailey, Samba-Mayela was preparing for her 2025 debut in the new Grand Slam Track series. Instead, injuries repeatedly interrupted her season.

Her first setback came in Kingston in April, where a thigh alert forced her to withdraw from the opening Grand Slam Track meeting. Then, while preparing to finally make her season debut in Miami a month later, she suffered a sudden calf problem during starts shortly before her race. That injury also ruled her out of the Philadelphia meeting, meaning she missed all three opening Grand Slam Track events.

By June, Samba-Mayela explained that the calf problem had appeared suddenly despite feeling good during training, with her medical team believing an irritated nerve may have been involved. She spent several weeks at Clairefontaine working with physiotherapists and physical trainers before gradually returning to running. What had been expected to be another important season after her Olympic breakthrough had instead turned into a long battle to get healthy and back on the track.