Fernanda Maciel

Fernanda Maciel (born c. 1980) is a Brazilian skyrunner and former environmental lawyer. She is known for her quest to set the fastest known time on the world's Seven Summits. She has set women's speed records on summits of Aconcagua, Kilimanjaro, Mount Vinson, Mount Elbrus, and the Carstensz Pyramid.

Biography Fernanda Maciel grew up in Belo Horizonte, Brazil into a family of jiu-jitsu and capoeira fighters. As a child, she began running to avoid having to take the bus to school and to support her training as a gymnast. Maciel became an elite athlete at a young age, competing in gymnastics competitions by age 8. By age 10, she was training in gymnastics in the United States. She later turned to running full time, choosing skyrunning as she found her race times in the mountain were just as good as her race times on the track.

In 2006, Maciel moved to New Zealand for a year, which inspired her to look beyond her law career. After returning to Brazil, in 2008 she ran her first ultramarathon and competed in adventure races. Maciel later left her law practice to devote herself to her athletic career full time.

Maciel competes at the elite level in skyrunning, over distances of 100 miles and more. In 2016 she became a sponsored athlete by The North Face. That year, she placed third in Marathon des Sables. She would place third once more in Marathon des Sables. In February 2021, Maciel suffered a severe head injury while ice climbing that disrupted her training and caused her to lose sensation in the left side of her body. After recovery she has returned to competition. She became the first woman to run the entirety of the Camino de Santiago Compostela, covering 860km in 10 days and the first woman to run the entirety of Argentina’s Aconcagua. In 2022, her summit of Mount Vinson was the fastest summit of the mountain for both men and women. Maciel's ultrarunning Seven Summits project is supported by Red Bull. 25 September 2017, Kilimanjaro – 10h 6m 28 April 2019, Elbrus – 7h 40m 0s 24 December 2022, Vinson – 9h 41m 38s 17 October 2024, Puncak Jaya / Carstensz Pyramid – 1h 48m