Luciana Aymar
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Luciana Paula Aymar Spanish pronunciation: [luˈsjana aiˈmar] (born 10 August 1977) is a retired Argentine field hockey player.[1]
She is the only player in history to receive the FIH Player of the Year Award eight times,[2] and she is considered as the best female hockey player of all time.[3][4][5]
Aymar is known for her ability to beat opposing players using her pace and dribbling skills, drawing comparisons with Argentinian footballer Diego Maradona. For this reason she has received the nicknames "La Maga" ("The Magician") and "The Maradona of Field Hockey".
Aymar was the flag bearer for Argentina at the 2012 Summer Olympics, becoming the second field hockey athlete being honoured this way.
Career
Luciana started playing at age seven for Club Atlético Fisherton in her native Rosario. She moved to Jockey Club de Rosario six years later. She gradually began training with the junior national team, for which she had to travel every day to Buenos Aires. In her international career she played for the Rot Weiss Köln from Germany and for Real Club de Barcelona from Spain. In her country, Luciana played for Quilmes Atlético Club and GEBA, where she won La Liga Nacional (The National League) and the Torneo Metropolitano. In 1997 she was part of the Argentina junior team that won the Pan American Games Junior Championship and the bronze medal at the Hockey Junior World Cup and a year later she made her debut for the Argentina senior team, finishing fourth at the 1998 Hockey World Cup. She was the youngest Argentine to be accepted into the squad when she was just 16.
Aymar was part of a generation in Argentine field hockey that went on to win several international tournaments from the 1999 Pan American Games onwards, including four Olympic medals, and six Champions Trophies. She was part of the squad that won the 2002 and 2010 Hockey World Cup, with the latter being held in her hometown Rosario.
In 2008, Luciana was declared Legend of Hockey by International Hockey Federation.
She was the flag bearer for her country at the opening ceremony of the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games held in London, England.
In the 2012 Summer Olympics Luciana became the second Argentine to achieve 4 medals, being the first sportsman Carlos Espínola.[6]
Luciana played her last international game with Argentina on Sunday 7 December 2014, in the city of Mendoza, Argentina winning her sixth Champions Trophy.
Awards and honours
International
- Argentina Junior
- Pan American Games: Gold Medal (1997)
- Junior World Cup: Bronze Medal (1997)
- Pan American Games: Gold Medal (1999, 2003, 2007), Silver Medal (2011)
- Summer Olympics: Silver Medal (2000, 2012), Bronze Medal (2004, 2008).
- Champions Trophy: Gold Medal (2001, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014), Silver Medal (2002, 2007, 2011), Bronze Medal (2004)
- World Cup: Gold Medal (2002, 2010), Bronze Medal (2006, 2014)
Club
- European Club Championship: 1998
- Copa de la Reina: 2004
- Liga Nacional: 2008, 2009
- Torneo Metropolitano: 2008, 2009
Individual
- Champions Trophy's Player of the Tournament (9): 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014
- FIH Player of the Year (8): 2001, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013
- World Cup's Player of the Tournament (2): 2002, 2010
References
- ↑ "Lucha Aymar Bio, Stats, and Results - Olympics at Sports-Reference.com". Retrieved 2014-12-05.
- ↑ "Amazing Aymar lands eighth FIH Player of the Year crown". 2013-12-08. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
- ↑ "Luciana Aymar, otra vez la reina del planeta". Cancha Llena (in Spanish). 2010-11-12. Retrieved 2010-11-18.
- ↑ "Top 10 greatest fild hockey players". The Telegraph.
- ↑ "Luciana Aymar, the all time greatest hockey player...".
- ↑ es:Carlos Mauricio Espínola
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
Preceded by Alyson Annan |
FIH Player of the Year 2001 |
Succeeded by Cecilia Rognoni |
Preceded by Mijntje Donners |
FIH Player of the Year 2004–2005 |
Succeeded by Minke Booij |
| Preceded by Minke Booij |
FIH Player of the Year 2007–2010 |
Succeeded by Maartje Paumen |
| Preceded by Maartje Paumen |
FIH Player of the Year 2013 |
Succeeded by Ellen Hoog |
| Preceded by Juan Martin Del Potro |
Olimpia de Oro 2010 |
Succeeded by Lionel Messi |
| Olympic Games | ||
| Preceded by Manu Ginóbili |
Flagbearer for Argentina London 2012 |
Succeeded by Luis Scola |
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