Luciana Aymar

Luciana Aymar

Luciana Aymar (2010)
Personal information
Full nameLuciana Paula Aymar
BornAugust 10, 1977
Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina
Height1.72 m (5 ft 7 12 in)
Playing positionMidfielder
Youth career
Fisherton
Jockey Club de Rosario
Senior career
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1998Rot-Weiss Köln
1999Real Club de Polo
2000–2007Quilmes
2008–2011GEBA
National team
1994–1998Argentina U21
1996–2014Argentina376(162)

Luciana Paula Aymar (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]

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"), "Diego" and "The Maradona Of Field Hockey".

Career

Aymar 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 1997 she was part of the Argentina junior team that won the Pan American Games Junior Championship, and a year later she made her debut for the Argentina senior team, and finished fourth at the 1998 Hockey World Cup. She was the youngest Argentine to be accepted into the squad at 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 two Olympic silver 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.

Aymar carried the flag 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, in London, England.

In the 2012 Summer Olympics Luciana became the second Argentine to achieve 4 medals, the other being Carlos Mauricio Espínola.[4]

Awards and honours

International

Argentina Junior
Argentina

Club

Rot-Weiss Köln

Individual

References

Awards
Preceded by
Australia Alyson Annan
FIH Player of the Year
2001
Succeeded by
Argentina Cecilia Rognoni
Preceded by
Netherlands Mijntje Donners
FIH Player of the Year
2004–2005
Succeeded by
Netherlands Minke Booij
Preceded by
Netherlands Minke Booij
FIH Player of the Year
2007–2010
Succeeded by
Netherlands Maartje Paumen
Preceded by
Netherlands Maartje Paumen
FIH Player of the Year
2013
Succeeded by
Incumbent
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
Incumbent
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Luciana Aymar.