| Erika "Aya" Eiffel | |
|---|---|
Erika "Aya" Eiffel at Texas Shootout Archery |
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| Born | 1972 (age 39–40) |
| Nationality | American, Italian |
| Other names | Erika LaBrie, Erika La Tour Eiffel |
| Occupation | Archer |
| Known for | Archery, marriage to the Eiffel Tower, relationship with Berlin Wall |
| Partner | Eiffel Tower (m. 2007–present) |
Erika "Aya" Eiffel (née Erika LaBrie), is an American woman who famously "married" the Eiffel Tower[1][2][3][4] in a commitment ceremony in 2007.[5]
She is founder of OS Internationale, an organization for those who develop significant relationships with inanimate objects (objectophile). She has been featured as a spokesperson and advocate in a wide variety of publications, and on radio talk shows and television programs.[6] She is a former US military member and archery world champion. She continues to compete at an international level as an archer. Her object relationship with Lance, her competition bow, helped her to become a world-class archer.[7]
She first encountered the Eiffel Tower in 2004, and felt an immediate attraction.[1]
Her love for the Eiffel Tower and long standing relationship with the Berlin Wall are the subjects of numerous newspaper articles and television documentaries. Regarding the attraction of herself and other similar people to inanimate objects, she is reported by ABC News as saying that she and others "[...] feel an innate connection to objects. It comes perfectly normal to us to connect on various levels, emotional, spiritual and also physical for some."
In April 2009, on the second anniversary of her "marriage" to the Eiffel Tower, she appeared on Good Morning America discussing how her object love empowered her.
Her 20 year relationship with the Berlin Wall inspired the musical theater production "Erika's Wall".[8]
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After serving enlisted in the US Air Force, Erika earned a congressional nomination to the US Air Force Academy in 1993 where her training to become an officer was interrupted by a sexual assault in which she defended herself with a Japanese training sword.
September 2003, Erika's case was brought to light by John Ferrugia of Denver 7 News after US Congress established the Fowler Commission to investigate the growing number of sexual assault cases at the US Air Force Academy.[9] Her case was cited as having thorough evidence to prosecute as her assailant admitted the assault to Air Force investigators.[10] However, Erika was given a medical discharge for PTSD due to her unwillingness to give up sleeping with the sword that had protected her. Her assailant was given an honorable discharge for an unrelated incident.[11]
Archery started for Erika in 1999 while living in Japan and she won various national tournaments. Due to citizenship restrictions, Erika returned to the US in 2003 to vie for a spot on the US World Archery Team.[12] In her US debut, she participated in qualifying national team tournaments shooting compound bow and won first place in both the FITA and Olympic rounds at all three 2003 National Cup tournaments: Arizona Cup, Texas Shootout, and Gold Cup.[13][14][15] Following her sweep she went on to win gold and break the FITA team record with Team USA at the 42nd World Target Championships in New York City.[16]
Erika, known as “Aya” in the archery world, has also won numerous national titles including: 2001 Japanese 34th National Shakaijin Target Championships (第34回全日本社会人ターゲット選手権) - 2003 and 2006 National Field Archery Association Indoor Nationals - 2005 Canadian Indoor 3D Nationals - 2005 and 2007 State Games of America Target Archery Championships - 2004, 2005, and 2008 National Archery Association Field Championships.[17]
Aya has represented the US at the FITA World Field Championships with Olympic recurve and also the FITA Target Championships and FITA World Cup with compound bow. She also competed in the IFAA Indoor Championships where she won gold in 2007 and broke the world record in Mannheim, Germany in Freestyle Limited Recurve.[18]
Aya was on the 2004 and 2006 US National Archery Team for compound bow and also the 2009 National Team for Olympic recurve.[19][20]