Sofía Gómez Villafane (born 15 April 1994) is an Argentine cross-country mountain biker and cyclo-cross cyclist. She represented

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

in Women's cross-country.

Career

She was raised in

Esquel Esquel is a town in the northwest of Chubut Province in Argentine Patagonia. It is located in Futaleufú Department, of which it is the government seat. The town's name derives from one of two Tehuelche words: one meaning "marsh" and the other ...

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and gl ...

until she was twelve, before moving with her family to

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. The fifth child of six, she discovered mountain biking through the Nor Cal High School Mountain Bike Program, and her brother found her a bike on

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for $500. She went on to compete at the collegiate level for

Fort Lewis College Fort Lewis College is a public liberal arts college in Durango, Colorado. Because of its unique origins as a military fort turned Indian boarding school turned state public school, FLC follows a 1911 mandate to give qualified Native Americans a ...

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where she received a Bachelor’s in exercise science and a minor in business administration. She races primarily in North America and is the 2019 Argentine national cross-country champion. She won the 2019 Epic Rides series, defeating World Cup champion Kate Courtney in the final race. At the 2019 Pan American Games, in

Lima, Peru Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

, she won a silver medal in the cross-country race. In 2021, she became as the first female mountain biker to compete in the Olympics for Argentina since 2004 through qualifying to compete in the cross-country event.

Personal life

She and her boyfriend, Keegan Swenson, met through mountain biking in 2012. They regularly train and travel to competitions together. Villafañe resides in

Heber City, Utah Heber City is a city and county seat of Wasatch County, Utah, Wasatch County, Utah, United States. The population was 11,362 at the time of the 2010 census. It is located 43 miles southeast of Salt Lake City. History Heber City was first sett ...

, United States. She has a dual American and Argentine nationality.

References

External links

* 1994 births Living people Argentine female cyclists Cyclists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists of Argentina Pan American Games silver medalists for Argentina Pan American Games medalists in cycling Cyclists at the 2019 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games {{Argentina-cycling-bio-stub