Luciana Aymar
Luciana Paula Aymar (Spanish pronunciation: [luˈsjana ajˈmaɾ]; born 10 August 1977) is an Argentine retired field hockey player.[1]
She is the only player in history to receive the FIH Player of the Year Award eight times,[2] and is considered the best female hockey player of all time.[3][4][5] In 2010 she was granted the Platinum Konex Award as the best hockey player of the last decade in Argentina.[6]
Luciana is known for her ability to beat opposing players using her pace and dribbling skills, drawing comparisons with Argentine footballer Diego Maradona. That is what has earned her the nickname "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 Argentine field hockey athlete being honoured this way after Marcelo Garraffo.
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 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.[1]
She is the only player in history to receive the FIH Player of the Year Award eight times,[2] and is considered as the best female hockey player of all time.[3][4][5] In 2010 she was granted the Platinum Konex Award as the best hockey player of the last decade in Argentina.[6]
Luciana is known for her ability to beat opposing players using her pace and dribbling skills, drawing comparisons with Argentine 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 after Marcelo Garraffo.
Personal life
Aymar was born to René Aymar and Nilda Vicente de Aymar. She has three siblings. Since 2017, Aymar had been in a relationship with former Chilean professional tennis player Fernando González,[7] and they have two children: a son born in 2019,[8] and a daughter born in 2021.[9]
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: 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014
- FIH Player of the Year: 2001, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013
- World Cup's Player of the Tournament: 2002, 2010
References
- ^ a b Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Lucha Aymar". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-17. Retrieved 2014-12-05.
- ^ a b "Amazing Aymar lands eighth FIH Player of the Year crown". 2013-12-08. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
- ^ a b "Luciana Aymar, otra vez la reina del planeta". Cancha Llena (in Spanish). 2010-11-12. Retrieved 2010-11-18.
- ^ a b "Top 10 greatest field hockey players". The Telegraph.
- ^ a b "Luciana Aymar, the all time greatest hockey player..." Archived from the original on 2016-12-26. Retrieved 2015-06-06.
- ^ a b "Luciana Aymar - Premio Konex de Platino 2010" (in Spanish). 2010-11-11. Retrieved 2010-11-11.
- ^ "Fernando González y Luciana Aymar confirmaron su romance en revista". cooperativa.cl (in Spanish). Radio Cooperativa. 20 July 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
- ^ "Nació Félix, el hijo de Luciana Aymar y Fernando González". Infobae (in Spanish). 4 January 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
- ^ "Luciana Aymar anuncia el nacimiento de su segundo hijo con Fernando González". El Mercurio (in Spanish). 11 September 2021. Retrieved 29 December 2022.