Mariafe Artacho del Solar

Mariafe Artacho del Solar (born 24 October 1993)[3] is an Australian beach volleyball player. She represented Australia at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 2021. Artacho del Solar plays as a right-side defender.[4] According to the Women's FIVB World Rankings, she and partner Taliqua Clancy are ranked 5th as of 21 January 2020.

Mariafe Artacho del Solar
Mariafe Artacho del Solar in 2019
Personal information
NationalityAustralian
Born (1993-10-24) 24 October 1993
Lima, Peru[1]
Height5 ft 9 in (175 cm)[2]
Weight67 kg (148 lb)
Beach volleyball information
Current teammate
Years Teammate
2017–present Taliqua Clancy
Previous teammates
Years Teammate
2016–2017
2013–2016
2012–2013		 Jessyka Ngauamo
Nicole Laird
Taliqua Clancy
Medal record
Women's beach volleyball
Representing  Australia
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place2020 TokyoBeach
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place2019 HamburgBeach
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal – second place2022 BirminghamBeach
Silver medal – second place2018 Gold CoastBeach
Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour
Silver medal – second place2023Uberlândia Elite 16
Bronze medal – third place2023Tepic Elite 16
Bronze medal – third place2023Doha Elite 16
Bronze medal – third place2022Torquay Elite 16
Bronze medal – third place2022Gstaad Elite 16
Gold medal – first place2022Espinho Challenge
Silver medal – second place2022Kuşadası Challenge
FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour
Gold medal – first place2021Cancún 3
Gold medal – first place2020Chetumal Open
Gold medal – first place2019Warsaw Open
Gold medal – first place2018Espinho Open
Gold medal – first place2018Lucerne Open
Gold medal – first place2018Sydney Open
Gold medal – first place2018Qinzhou Open
Silver medal – second place2019Jinjiang Open
Silver medal – second place2017Sydney Open
Bronze medal – third place2019Xiamen Open
Bronze medal – third place2018World Tour Finals
Bronze medal – third place2018Xiamen Open
Asian Beach Volleyball Championships
Gold medal – first place2019Maoming
Gold medal – first place2018Satun
Silver medal – second place2022Roi Et
Silver medal – second place2016Sydney
Bronze medal – third place2015Hong Kong

Early life

Artacho del Solar moved with her mother from Lima, Peru, to Sydney when she was 11 years old.[2] They joined her older brother and extended family already living there. She spoke limited English and found that sport was the best way to communicate.[5] She attended Gordon West Public School before she attended Killara High School, where she met her future Rio Olympics Beach Volleyball partner Nicole Laird.[2]

Artacho del Solar was then offered an AIS Scholarship with the Beach Volleyball program in 2012 which saw her move to Adelaide, South Australia in which the Australian Beach Volleyball Program is located.

Professional career

Rio de Janeiro – 2016 Olympics

Artacho del Solar made her Olympic debut at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro with then partner Nicole Laird. The pair did not win a match in Rio, losing to the US, Switzerland and China in their preliminary pool matches to finish the tournament in 19th place.[1]

Gold Coast – 2018 Commonwealth Games

Artacho del Solar participated in the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast with partner Taliqua Clancy. The duo won their 3 preliminary pool matches without losing a set, with wins over Cyprus' Manolina Konstantinou and Mariota Angelopoulou (21–14, 21–9), Grenada's Renisha Stafford and Thornia Williams (21–2, 21–11), and Scotland's Lynne Beattie and Melissa Coutts (21–9, 21–9). Finishing top of their pool, they advanced to the quarter-finals, where they defeated Rwanda's Charlotte Nzayisenga and Denyse Mutatsimpundu (21–9, 21–8) to advance to the semi-finals. After winning the opening set of their semi-final against Vanuatu's pairing of Linline Matauatu and Miller Pata, the duo lost their first set of the tournament to send the match to the decider, which they won to advance to the gold medal match (21–19, 16–21, 15–9). At the gold medal match, the duo lost to Canada's Melissa Humana-Paredes and Sarah Pavan (19–21, 20–22) to take home the silver medal.[6]

FIVB World Tour 2019

Artacho del Solar and Clancy are currently competing on the FIVB World Tour around the world. The pair have already won a Bronze in Xiamen, China and Gold in the Asian Beach Volleyball Championships at Maoming. They competed at the 2019 Beach Volleyball World Championships in Hamburg, Germany, from 28 June to 7 July, winning bronze. Due to an injury to Artacho del Solar's left knee, the pair had three months off before competing again towards the end of 2019 in which they won gold at the 4-star double gender in Chetumal, Mexico.

Tokyo – 2020 Olympics

On August 4, 2021, Artacho del Solar and partner Taliqua Clancy upset the world number-one team of Canada in the quarter-finals.[7] On August 5, 2021, they defeated the Latvian team with a convincing straight-sets win to advance to the gold-medal match against the United States.[8] They lost to the U.S. in the finals, and took the silver medal.[9]

Coaching

From August to October 2021, Artacho del Solar was coaching Year 10 high-school volleyball at Ormiston College in Brisbane, Australia.

Personal life

Artacho Del Solar is married to Jack Curtin, with their wedding taking place at a registry in November 2020.[10]

References
  1. "Maria Fe Artacho del Solar". Australian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  2. MacDonald, Cindy (11 March 2017). "On the beach: Mariafe Artacho del Solar, 23, beach volleyball player". The Saturday Paper. No. 147. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  3. "Mariafe Artacho del Solar". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  4. "Players Details: Mariafe Artacho". Beach Volleyball Major Series. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  5. "Mariafe Artacho del Solar". Australian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  6. "Aussie beach volleyball on track for Tokyo 2020 Olympics". Volleyball Australia. 21 April 2018. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  7. "Aussies upset world No.1 pair in beach volleyball". wwos.nine.com.au. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  8. "Australia seals 21-year first after beach volleyball masterclass". Fox Sports. 5 August 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  9. "Australia wins silver medal in women's beach volleyball final, with straight-sets loss to USA at Tokyo Olympics". ABC News. 6 August 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  10. "Families come together to cheer on Australian Olympic beach volleyball duo from afar". SBS. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
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