Born in the rural town of Erenary in Alikovsky District in the west of Russia, she enlisted in the Russian Army and began competing in long-distance events for Cheboksary (the regional capital).

[3] Her first international appearance followed at the 2002 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Dublin and her 28th-place finish helped the Russian women to fourth place in the short race rankings.

[5] She competed principally in American races the following year: she ran a time of 2:30:57 to finished sixth at the Boston Marathon in April and won the Fifth Third River Bank Run 25K a month later.

[6] She had the best run of her career at the Chicago Marathon in October, improving her best by over four minutes to claim fourth place with her time of 2:25:35 hours.

[7][8] On her Olympic debut at the age of 27, Mayorova was some twenty minutes slower than her London outing and managed only fortieth place overall.

[10] She finished second to Colleen De Reuck at the River Bank Run 25K,[11] Her form dipped at the end of the year as she was eleventh in Chicago and ranked seventh at the Las Vegas Marathon.

[16] In 2010, she ran her fastest time since 2004 with a run of 2:28:06 hours at the Toronto Marathon, but she finished seventh overall in a high calibre field.

[19] This earned her a place at the 2012 London Olympics and she reached the top ten, finishing ninth with a time of 2:25:38 hours.