Mariana
Pajón
Colombia
·
BMX
Date of birth | October 10, 1991 |
|---|---|
Birthplace | Medellín |
Age | 34 |
Nationality | Colombia |
Career start | 1995 |
Disciplines | BMX Racing |
National treasure is an often overused word, but not in the case of BMX Racing legend Mariana Pajón – she truly is Colombia’s sporting sweetheart.
A six-time elite level world champion – 14 in all counting her junior wins – and three time Games medalist, Mariana is the South American nation’s most successful ever Olympian and, as such, is a beloved, figure at home, where she’s even had a world class BMX track built and named in her honour in her home town of Medellín.
It’s not just in Colombia where Mariana is a superstar. There’s a reason why she’s known as the ‘Queen of BMX’ by the worldwide racing community – and that reason is the sheer number of wins and titles she’s accumulated in her incredible career.
Mariana started her racing career early, aged just four, and became a world champion for the first time by the age of just nine. 14 world titles, 13 World Cup race wins and three World Cup titles later, she’s recognised without a doubt the greatest female BMX racer of all time – a powerhouse who’s dominated women’s racing for an entire generation.
Of course, it’s Mariana’s three medals on the biggest stage of all that made her a household name, starting with her sensational decimation of her rivals in London 2012, where the then 20-year-old won Colombia’s second-ever gold medal in a highlight reel moment. Four years later in Rio, as the clear favourite and with the weight of nation’s expectation on her shoulders, Mariana delivered again to secure her second gold.
The following years were beset by injuries, most notable a serious knee ligament in 2018 that took Mariana out of action until the 2019 season and put her place for Tokyo 2020 under threat. Luckily, the postponement of the Games until 2021 allowed Mariana to recover further and she delighted her fans worldwide when she not only made the final, but raced to a silver medal, taking her tally to three. "It’s been five years of waiting, dealing with injuries and up and down," she explained in emotional scenes after the race. “I didn’t think it was possible to be in the final. To qualify was already a big challenge. This is like gold to me.”
A racer who lives by the Eleanor Roosevelt motto ‘The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams’, Mariana might be the Queen of BMX, but she hasn’t given up dreaming just yet. She’ll be fighting for an incredible fourth medal in Paris and who knows what else in the future. If anyone can make more BMX racing history, it’s Mariana Pajón.