Mariana Pajón

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.

Rio 2016

In the 2016 Summer Olympics, Pajón defended her title and won her second Olympic gold medal and fifth overall in 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 10 October 1991, the 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 1 June 2008, Mariana won the UCI BMX World Championship 2008, held in Taiyuan, China, in the Junior Women's Cruiser category.

Pajón married fellow BMX rider Vincent Pelluard on 16 December 2017 after dating for 4 years. Pelluard acquired Colombian citizenship through his marriage with Pajón and now represents Colombia on the international scene.

She was awarded the Colombian Order of Boyacá.

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 Santiago 2023 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

Heusden-Zolder 2015

Medellín 2016

Rock Hill 2017