Cyréna Samba-Mayela, a 23-year-old French hurdler, has brought glory to French athletics by winning a silver medal in the 100m hurdles at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

This achievement marks the first medal for the French athletics team at these Games.

Samba-Mayela completed her race in 12.34 seconds, narrowly missing the gold by just one-hundredth of a second to American Masai Russell, who clocked in at 12.33 seconds.

The bronze went to Puerto Rican Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, the gold medalist from the Tokyo 2021 Olympics.

Samba-Mayela's performance was particularly significant as she overcame a previous setback at the Tokyo Olympics, where she had to withdraw due to an injury.

Her journey, marked by training in Florida and overcoming a COVID-19 infection, has been a testament to her resilience and determination.