The character arc of Mariana Pajon
A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record
Born on 10 October 1991 in Medellin. Between then and now sit a first national title at the age of five and a first world title at nine, fourteen world championships in all, two national titles in the United States, nine Latin American and ten Pan American championships, the flag carried for her country at an Olympic opening ceremony in 2012, gold that same Games, gold again in Rio in 2016 as the first Colombian ever to win two, a BMX circuit in Medellin named after her and a world title won on it, and a silver in Tokyo. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Drag along the line to move, pinch or use the buttons to look closer. Tap the line to pluck it, or any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Mariana Pajon?
National champion at five. World champion at nine.
She won her first national title at the age of five. She won her first world title at nine. Those two facts arrive so early in the record that the rest of the page reads as a confirmation of them rather than as a surprise.
The full count is fourteen world championships, two national championships in the United States, nine Latin American championships and ten Pan American championships. Colombia named her its athlete of the year in 2011, and she is known at home as the Queen of BMX.
She was chosen to be the flag-bearer for Colombia at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, and then, in her first Olympic BMX event, won first place in all three semifinal runs and took the final in 37.706 seconds. It was the first gold medal Colombia won at those Games and the second the country had ever won at any Olympics.
In Rio in 2016 she defended the title and won a second Olympic gold, which made her the first Colombian athlete ever to do it and the country fifth gold overall. A BMX circuit had been built in Medellin and named for her, and it was on that track that she won the 2016 BMX World Championships, which is about as close to a home fixture as a world title gets.
At the Tokyo Games she won silver. After two golds, a silver reads in the results as a decline, and in a sport where a single crash at the first corner ends the day it is simply another medal, in a third consecutive Games, by a rider who had been winning titles since she was five.
The moments
Mariana Pajon's timeline.
The 1990s
Born in Medellin
Everyday. Medellin, 1991.
National champion at five
Milestone, and it changed everything. Five years old, and national champion.
The 2000s
World champion at nine
Milestone, and it changed everything. Nine years old, and a world title.
Titles across the continent
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Nineteen continental titles, and two American ones.
The 2010s
Athlete of the year
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Her country athlete of the year, at nineteen.
She carries the flag
Milestone, and it changed everything. Twenty years old, carrying the flag.
Gold in London
Milestone, and it changed everything. First in all three semifinals, then thirty seven seconds.
Retire on one gold, or go again
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: defend it in Rio, taken, or stop at one. She won it again, became the first Colombian with two golds, and took a silver at a third Games.
A world title on her own track
Milestone, and it changed everything. She won the world title on the track named after her.
Gold again in Rio
Milestone, and it changed everything. The first Colombian ever to win two.
Fourteen world championships
Milestone, and it changed everything. Fourteen world titles, in one career.
The 2020s
Silver in Tokyo
Setback, and it changed everything. A third Games, and a third medal, and it was not gold.
The circuit in Medellin still carries her name and riders still race on it. What she set moving is the plainest thing in the batch: a small child who was fast, in a country with two Olympic golds to its name, who went and won two of them herself.
Your turn
Every line draws a unique story.
Hers was already winning national titles at five, which makes the rest of the line unusually long. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.
Mariana Pajon: frequently asked questions
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Where does this timeline of Mariana Pajon's life come from?
More character arcs
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Sources
- Mariana Pajon, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
- Her Olympic results from London, Rio and Tokyo.
- Her world, Latin American and Pan American championship record.
- The BMX circuit in Medellin named for her, and the 2016 World Championships held there.