María Mayalen Noriega is a Spanish cyclist who competes in regular cycling and Paralympic cycling as a pilot for Josefa Benítez Guzman, with whom she won a silver medal at the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...

. She has also served as a guide for Susana Rodríguez in the

paratriathlon Para triathlon is a variant of the triathlon for athletes with a physical disability. The sport is governed by World Triathlon (TRI) (formerly known as ITU), and was first held as a Paralympic event at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, ...

Personal

Noriega was born on 19 February 1982 in Mexico. Her ancestry is from the Catalan region of Spain, and she now lives in

Mataró Mataró () is the capital and largest town of the ''comarca'' of the Maresme, in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia Autonomous Community, Spain. It is located on the Costa del Maresme, to the south of Costa Brava, between Cabrera de Mar and Sa ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. In 2013, she was awarded the silver Real Orden al Mérito Deportivo. In 2013, she had a broken scapula following a fall after a chain on her bicycle broke. This forced her to sit out of competitive sport for a few weeks. According to one of the sportspeople Noriega has been a guide for, she loves competition.

Swimming

Her first sport was swimming. As a youngster, Noriega set national records in swimming in Mexico.

Cycling

Noriega is a cyclist who competes individually, and as a pilot for vision impaired cyclists. At the 2011 Stage National TT Championships Spain, Noriega finished fifth. She competed in the 2012 Spanish track cycling championships, and was one of the underdogs. In January 2012, she competed at the Ciutat de Palma Trophy IV as a pilot for Josefa Benítez Guzman. From the Catalan region of Spain, she was a recipient of a 2012 Plan ADOP scholarship. Noriega competed at the

in cycling as the pilot for Josefa Benítez Guzman. The pair won a silver medal at the Games in a road event. Following the London Games, she had an intention of focusing less on being a pilot and more on her individual cycling career. In June 2013, Noriega competed in the Spanish national championships, finishing second in the women's road race. In 2013, she won the Girona City Cyclocross event in the women's category. Noriega has been a member of the

Bizkaia–Durango Bizkaia–Durango () is a professional cycling team based in Spain, which competes in elite road bicycle racing events such as the UCI Women's World Tour. Team history 2014 Bizkaia–Durango was active during 2014 in women's road cycling. On ...

cycling team in 2013 and 2014.

Triathlon

In 2012, Noriega competed in the

Paratriathlon Para triathlon is a variant of the triathlon for athletes with a physical disability. The sport is governed by World Triathlon (TRI) (formerly known as ITU), and was first held as a Paralympic event at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, ...

World Championships as the guide for Susana Rodríguez. She served as Rodríguez's guide for the 2013 Para-triathlon World Championships in London. Going into the event, she said that she was unsure if she would be able to match Rodríguez's stroke.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Noriega, Mayalen Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Paratriathletes of Spain Paralympic cyclists of Spain 1982 births Living people Spanish female triathletes Sportspeople from Mexico City Spanish female cyclists Mexican emigrants to Spain People of Catalan descent