Maria Lambrou

Maria Lambrou (Greek: Μαρία Λάμπρου; born 23 February 1953 in Limassol, Cyprus), also known by her diminutive and married name Maroula Lambrou-Teloni (Greek: Μαρούλα Λάμπρου-Τελώνη), is a Greek-Cypriot athlete, best known as a long jumper. Lambrou is regarded by many as the greatest female athlete in Cypriot sports.[1] Her personal best of 6.80 m in the long jump, achieved on 24 May 1985 and personal best of 5319 points in heptathlon achieved on 3–4 September 1984 in Cyprus, are the national records.[2][3]

Lambrou participated three times in the Olympics: the 1976 Summer Olympics (representing Greece), 1980 Summer Olympics (representing Greece) and the 1988 Olympics (representing Cyprus). At that time, she held six national records in Cyprus (100 m, 200 m, 100 m hurdles, long jump, heptathlon, and high jump) and three national records in Greece (long jump, 100 m, and 100 m hurdles). Lambrou also holds the national record for indoor long jump (6.42 m), achieved on 7 February 1976 in Piraeus,[4] Greece. Representing Cyprus, she placed 6th in the long jump at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane.

In 1985, at the Games of the Small States of Europe in San Marino, Lambrou broke five Cypriot records and won several medals. She jumped 6.80 m in the long jump, ran the 100 m in a time of 11.73 seconds, scored 5,062 in the heptathlon, finished the 200 m with a time of 24.39 seconds, and ran on the 4 x 100 metres relay team, which finished in 46.53 seconds, a Cypriot record. At those same games, she won the gold in the 100 m event with a time of 12.04 seconds and in the long jump with a leap of 6.30 m. At the Bruno Zauli Cup in Austria, Lambrou won the 100 m event.[5]