Magdalena Aicega

Magdalena Aicega

Aicega in 2008
Personal information
Full name	María Magdalena Aicega
Born	(1973-11-01) 1 November 1973 (age 50) Buenos Aires
Playing position	Defender
Senior career
Years	Team
1987–2019	Belgrano A.C.
2023	Belgrano A.C.
National team
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1993–2008	Argentina
Teams coached
2019–23	Belgrano A.C.

Magdalena Aicega

Medal record
Women's field hockey
Representing  Argentina
Olympic Games
	2000 Sydney	Team
	2004 Athens	Team
	2008 Beijing	Team
World Cup
	2002 Perth	Team
	1994 Dublin	Team
	2006 Madrid	Team
Champions Trophy
	2001 Amstelveen	Team
	2008 Mönchengladbach	Team
	2002 Macau	Team
	2007 Quilmes	Team
	2004 Rosario	Team
Pan American Games
	1995 Mar del Plata	Team
	1999 Winnipeg	Team
	2003 Santo Domingo	Team
	2007 Rio de Janeiro	Team
Pan American Cup
	2001 Kingston	Team

María Magdalena Aicega Amicarelli (born November 1, 1973, in Buenos Aires) is a retired field hockey player from Argentina, who won the silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia and the bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece and at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China with the Argentina national team.

Aicega, who played as central defender, is regarded as one of the most notable players in the history of Las Leonas,^[1][2][3] for whom she played more than 15 years.^[4]

Overview

Aicega started his career in Belgrano Athletic at 7 years old, and debuting with the senior squad seven years later. At 16, Aicega played her first match for the Argentina national team.^[5]

She won the 2002 World Cup, two Champions Trophy, four gold medals at the Pan American Games and the Pan American Cup in 2001. Nicknamed Magui, she first represented her native country at the Junior World Cup in 1993 in Barcelona, Spain, where Argentina won the gold. The following year the penalty corner hitter played for the senior team, finishing second at the World Cup in Dublin, Ireland. Aicega retired from the national team in 2008.^[4]

She was awarded with the Silver Olimpia Award, the most prestigious local prize awarded by Argentina's Sports Journalists Association, in 1998 and 2003. She was also nominated for the FIH's Best Player of the Year in 1999, won by Australia's Alyson Annan. Aicega was also awarded with the Premio Konex of Argentina in 2000.^[6]

After 33 years playing for Belgrano, in 2019 Aicega retired from hockey. She later became coach of the Belgrano's youth divisions.^[5] Nevertheless in August 2023, Aicega (who was 49 years old by then) announced she would return to play for Belgrano Athletic the "Torneo Reubicación", a promotion and relegation tournament.^[1][7][2] Belgrano was finally relegated to the second division along with San Martín.^[8]

Other work

After her retirement from hockey, Aicega (who has a degree in nutrition) has worked as an sports commentator (covering hockey and then football matches for TNT Argentina).^[9][10] She had also a brief tenre as director of ENARD (acronym of "Ente Nacional de Alto Rendimiento Deportivo") in 2017.^[11]

References

External links

Media related to Magdalena Aicega at Wikimedia Commons

• Magdalena Aicega at Olympics.com
• Magdalena Aicega at Olympedia
• Website with more information
• Magdalena Aicega at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)