Athlete of the Year: Mariana AVITIA (MEX)

Shooting at the 2012 Olympic Games   Mariana AVITIA was chosen as Athlete of the Year 2012 via a poll on the World Archery Facebook page. She was selected by the archery community with 40% of votes, ahead of the American archers Matt STUTZMAN (31.8%), the man without arms who won the Paralympic silver medal, and Reo WILDE (20%), who dominated the compound archery season in 2012.   Mariana AVITIA, who started shooting at the age of 6 in 2001, is a very successful and experienced archer despite her young age. She competed in her first Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008 as the youngest athlete of the entire Mexican delegation at 14. She placed 8th overall, a forerunner of the major accomplishment that was to come four years later.   The Mexican made history at the London Olympic Games. Coached by Song I Woo, she upset the two-time Olympic team champion LEE Sung Jin (KOR) in the women’s individual quarterfinals. Just a few minutes after the disappointment of losing the semifinal match to her teammate Aida ROMAN, Mariana AVITIA was back on the field to fight for the bronze medal against the immensely experienced Khatuna LORIG, who represented three different countries at five editions of the Olympic Games and won the bronze medal with the Unified Team in 1992. The 18-year-old Mexican opened the final with 10-10-10, and lost just one set to win the match 6-2.   A mural in Mariana AVITIA’s honour in Nuevo Leon (© La Aficion)Mariana AVITIA won the bronze medal, her first on the world scene, and Aida ROMAN the silver. The two young ladies wrote one of Mexican archery’s finest hours, as these were the first two archery Olympic medals for the country. Moreover, Mariana AVITIA was one of 21 participants of the 2010 Youth Olympic Games who won medals at the London Olympic Games.   This unprecedented Olympic success triggered a huge development and a new popularity for the sport in Mexico. Mariana AVITIA received multiple honours in her country, generating constant interest from the media.   A student in communication at the University of Nuevo Leon, Mariana AVITIA is an active promoter of her sport on the social media. With a fan base of 47’000 on Twitter alone, she is clearly one of the most popular archers in the world. Follow her on her Twitter account for regular updates, and visit her official Facebook page for a beautiful photo gallery including images from her early years in the sport. For videos of Mariana AVITIA's Olympic achievements, click here.   Biography extract:  Mariana AVITIA – Born on 18 September 1993  3rd Individual Olympic Games – London 2012 2nd Team World Cup stage 3 – Ogden 2012 2nd Individual Arizona Cup – Phoenix 2012 1st Team Pan-American Games – Guadalajara 2011 3rd Team World Cup stage 4 – Shanghai 2011 1st Team Pan-American Championships – Guadalajara 2010 4th Individual Youth Olympic Games – Singapore 2010 6th Individual Indoor World Championships – Rzeszow 2009 4th Individual Cadet World Championships – Ogden 2009 8th Individual Olympic Games – Beijing 2008   You will find more information on Mariana AVITIA and all the other archers on the World Archery  website.   World Archery Communication