Mariana Pajón
Personal information | |
---|---|
Full name | Mariana Pajón Londoño |
Nickname | "Tata", "Queen of BMX" |
Born | Medellín, Colombia | 10 October 1991
Height | 1.58 m (5 ft 2 in) |
Weight | 53 kg (117 lb) |
Team information | |
Discipline | Bicycle Motocross (BMX) |
Role | Rider |
Medal record |
Mariana Pajón Londoño ODB (born 10 October 1991) is a Colombian cyclist, two-time Olympic gold medalist and BMX World Champion.
She won her first national title at age of 5 and her first world title at 9. Overall, she is the winner of 14 world championships, 2 national championships in the United States, 9 Latin American Championships and 10 Pan American championships. She also won the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, on 10 August 2012, as well as in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. She is the first Colombian to win two Olympic gold medals. Pajón's achievements in BMX have earned her the nickname "Queen of BMX".
She was selected to be the flag-bearer for Colombia at the 2012 Summer Olympics at the Opening Ceremony.
BMX Olympic champion
London 2012
After being the flag-bearer for Colombia during the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics, Pajón's first participation in the BMX event resulted in the first gold medal for Colombia during the 2012 games and the second overall in Colombia's participation in the Olympics.
After achieving a splendid 1st position in all three runs of the Semifinals, Pajón won with a time of 37.706 seconds during the final.
Rio 2016
In the 2016 Olympic Games Pajón defended her title and won her second Olympic gold medal and fifth overall for Colombia. With this victory, Pajón became the first Colombian athlete to win two gold medals.
Tokyo 2020
In the 2020 Summer Olympics Pajón won silver.
Personal life
Mariana Pajón Londoño was born in Medellín, Colombia, on October 10, 1991, daughter of Carlos Mario Pajón and Claudia Londoño, who were also athletes in their youth (her father practiced motoring and her mother riding). She studied at the Sacred Heart Montemayor Catholic school in Rionegro, near to Medellín.
Mariana learned to ride a bicycle when she was three years old. When she was four she began to perform her first training on the track, and had her first race, in which she competed against children of five and six years-of-age since there was no suitable category.
She was invited to the Youth Camp held during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. On June 1, 2008, Mariana won the UCI BMX World Championship 2008, held in Taiyuan, China, in Junior Women's Cruiser category. On the international tracks, the nickname of the atomic ant was won by its particular way of running, with explosion, rudeness and aggressiveness.
Pajón married fellow BMX rider Vincent Pelluard on December 16, 2017 after dating for 4 years. Pelluard acquired Colombian citizenship through his marriage with Pajón and now represents Colombia on the international scene.
Awards
Olympics
- London 2012
- Olympic gold medal, Women's BMX
- Rio de Janeiro 2016
- Olympic gold medal, Women's BMX (First Colombian to achieve 2 gold medals at the Olympic Games)
- Tokyo 2020
- Olympic silver medal, Women's BMX
Pan American Games
- Guadalajara 2011
- Pan American Gold Medal, Women's BMX
- Lima 2019
- Pan American Gold Medal, Women's BMX
World Championships
- Taiyuan 2008
- Adelaide 2009
- Pietermaritzburg 2010
- Copenhagen 2011
- Birmingham 2012
- Fifth position, Elite Women
- Auckland 2013
- Rotterdam 2014
- Medellín 2016
- Rock Hill 2017
- BMX riders
- Living people
- 1991 births
- Colombian female cyclists
- Olympic cyclists of Colombia
- Olympic gold medalists for Colombia
- Cyclists at the 2011 Pan American Games
- Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Olympics
- Cyclists at the 2015 Pan American Games
- Cyclists at the 2016 Summer Olympics
- Cyclists at the 2019 Pan American Games
- Olympic medalists in cycling
- Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics
- Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics
- Sportspeople from Medellín
- UCI BMX World Champions (elite women)
- Pan American Games gold medalists for Colombia
- Pan American Games medalists in cycling
- South American Games gold medalists for Colombia
- South American Games medalists in cycling
- Competitors at the 2010 South American Games
- Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games
- Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games
- Cyclists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
- Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
- Olympic silver medalists for Colombia