In her debut World Championships appearance at 2009, Soumaré took part in only one event – the 100 metres. She was eliminated in the quarter-finals of that event.
Soumaré represented France in three events at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London: 100m, 200m and 4 × 100 m relay. She finished seventh in the 200m final in a time of 22.63 sec. She achieved the 11th fastest time in the 100m semi-finals and thus did not qualify for the final. In the first round heats of the 4 × 100 m relay, her team botched its last two baton exchanges and was disqualified for out-of-zone baton exchange.[3]
At the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, Soumaré took part in three events – the 100 metres, 200 metres and 4 × 100 metres relay. She was eliminated in the semi-finals of the 100 and 200 metres events. Her 4 × 100 metres relay team finished the third fastest among the 19 national teams taking part in the heats, and thus qualified for the final. In the final, the French team – consisting of Céline Distel-Bonnet, Ayodelé Ikuesan, Soumaré and Stella Akakpo running in the first, second, third and fourth legs respectively – finished the race in second position (42.73 seconds) behind Jamaica. The French relay team members were duly presented their silver medals during the medal ceremony. After the medal ceremony, the British team filed a protest against the French team, claiming that the latter had an out-of-zone baton handover between Ikuesan and Soumaré. More than two hours after the race, the French relay team was officially disqualified. The French delegation appealed against their disqualification, but it was in vain. Consequently, the American team was upgraded to the silver medal and the British team received the bronze medal. Bernard Amsalem, the president of the Fédération française d'athlétisme, called the French team's disqualification "an outrage". He explained that normally the decision to disqualify a team had to be made before the medal ceremony and teams had to file protests within thirty minutes from the end of the race.[5]
2015
Soumaré took a year off from athletics in 2015.[6]
Retirement
On 24 February 2016, Soumaré announced her retirement from athletics, while leaving open the possibility of making a comeback in the future.[7]
Personal life
Soumaré's parents are of Mauritanian origin. She has four siblings and is a Muslim. She lives with them in the northern Paris suburb of Villiers-le-Bel.[8]
Soumaré works as a childcare assistant in a childcare centre. She wears a headscarf in her daily life but takes it off when she is on the track.[9]
Soumaré gave birth to her first child, a boy, in June 2015.[10]
Results in the finals of international competitions
Note: Only the position in the final is indicated, unless otherwise stated
^ ab"Athlete biography: Myriam Soumaré". Archived from the original on September 16, 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link), beijing2008.cn, ret: Aug 30, 2008