Luciana Aymar

Luciana Aymar

Luciana Aymar (2010)
Personal information
Full name	Luciana Paula Aymar
Born	(1977-08-10) August 10, 1977 Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina
Height
Playing position	Midfielder
Youth career
	Fisherton
	Jockey Club de Rosario
Senior career
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1998	Rot-Weiss Köln
1999	Real Club de Polo
2000–2007	Quilmes
2008–2011	GEBA
National team
1994–1998	Argentina U21
1998–2014	Argentina	376	(162)
Medal record Women's Field hockey Representing Argentina Summer Olympics 2000 Sydney Team 2012 London Team 2004 Athens Team 2008 Beijing Team World Cup 2002 Perth Team 2010 Rosario Team 2006 Madrid Team 2014 The Hague Team Champions Trophy 2001 Amstelveen Team 2008 Mönchengladbach Team 2009 Sydney Team 2010 Nottingham Team 2012 Rosario Team 2014 Mendoza Team 2002 Macau Team 2007 Quilmes Team 2011 Amstelveen Team 2004 Rosario Team Pan American Games 1999 Winnipeg Team 2003 Santo Domingo Team 2007 Rio de Janeiro Team 2011 Guadalajara Team Pan American Cup 2001 Kingston Team 2004 Bridgetown Team 2013 Mendoza Team Junior World Cup 1997 Seongnam Team

Luciana Paula Aymar Spanish pronunciation: [luˈsjana aiˈmar] (born 10 August 1977) is a retired Argentine field hockey player.

She is the only player in history to receive the FIH Player of the Year Award eight times, and she is considered as the best female hockey player of all time.

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".

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 his 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, in London, England.

In the 2012 Summer Olympics Luciana became the second Argentine to achieve 4 medals, being the first sportsman Carlos Espínola.

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)

Argentina

• 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

Rot-Weiss Köln

• European Club Championship: 1998

Real Club de Polo de Barcelona

• Copa de la Reina: 2004

GEBA

• 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

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 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