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María Magdalena Aicega Amicarelli (born 1 November 1973) is an Argentine retired field hockey, 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 in 2008 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | María Magdalena Aicega | ||
| Born |
1 November 1973 Buenos Aires, Argentina | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Senior career | |||
| Years | Team | ||
| 1987–2019 | Belgrano A.C. | ||
| 2023 | Belgrano A.C. | ||
| National team | |||
| Years | Team | Caps | Goals |
| 1993–2008 | Argentina | ||
| Coaching career | |||
| 2019–23 | Belgrano A.C. | ||
| 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 |
Aicega, who played as a central defender, is regarded as one of the most notable players in the history of Las Leonas,[1][2][3] for whom she played for more than 15 years.[4]
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Aicega started her 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]
Aicega 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]
Aicega 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]
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After her retirement from hockey, Aicega (who has a degree in nutrition) has worked as a 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]
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