Léa Da Silva

Happy birthday to France’s 400m hurdler Léa Da Silva, who ran the fastest race of her life two months ago and has been hurdling for well over a decade to get there.

Léa ran 1:00.44 over the 400m hurdles at Blois in July, a personal best in the middle of this season. She has 9.06 over the 60m hurdles indoors as well, so the raw speed underneath the long hurdles is real. What makes the July run so satisfying is the length of the road to it. Back in 2014, as a minime for Aunis Athlétisme La Rochelle Aytré, she was winning inter-regional silver over 200m hurdles at Cognac in a club record of 30.36. Twelve years later: same athlete, same barriers, still finding personal bests.

Away from the track she works as a sports physiotherapist, splitting her time between Limoges and La Rochelle. So her working week is spent keeping other people’s bodies on the floor and her own season is spent putting ten hurdles between herself and a finish line. Her bio fills in the rest: athletics, animals, photography, and a very long list of countries.

Joyeux anniversaire, Léa! Nos vœux les plus sincères pour cette nouvelle année, et que les chronos continuent de descendre. 🎂🎁🎉🫶🫶🇫🇷