ARCEO Mariana

General
OVERCOMING COVID
In March 2020 she was diagnosed with COVID-19 while at a training camp in Barcelona, Spain. "I didn't listen to my body in time. I was training for my first Olympics and I took it to the extreme, so I didn't know how to detect I was ill until my body was already in very serious condition. I thought it was because of too much training until I began coughing up blood." She was forced to return to Mexico and was admitted to the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases in Mexico City. "It was a big blow, something shocking. I reacted with a lot of pain and felt helpless of not knowing how it had happened to me. I tried to have a positive attitude, but there were some times in which I was thinking that I would not be able to practise sports again. It was a challenge for me." After some weeks in isolation she left the hospital. "Everything changed, my training changed, the year changed, but the goal still stands, it is the Olympic Games and no matter what modifications have to be made, the objective is the same." (espn.com.mx, 27 Mar 2020; tokyo2020.org, 10 Jun 2020)

SURPRISE MEDAL
In 2019 she and teammate Mayan Oliver became the first Mexican female modern pentathletes to claim a world championship medal when they claimed gold in the women's relay. "I have never been considered to do it, as I always have done the mixed relay. This time, the [Mexican] federation and the coach decided it would be good for me to try this relay and they told me just the night before. I was not against this decision because I love competing. Thanks to that the result is a historic medal." (elsoldepuebla.com.mx, 04 Sep 2019)

FOUNDATION
In 2020 she launched her own foundation in Mexico, aiming to give people more access to sport. "I created the 'Fundacion Mariana Arceo' with the main goal of bringing sport to areas of our country that do not have sports infrastructure or possibilities. Another one of our commitments was to hold events so that more people have the chance to get to know the different sports that take place in the country at an amateur and professional level, promoting all disciplines." The foundation's most ambitious plan is the construction of a sports complex in the municipality of San Ignacio Cerro Gordo in Jalisco state, which she expects to be finished by 2024. The project also helped to raise funds to help the fight against COVID-19. "When I went through COVID, I realised the deficiencies in the health sector. I experienced deficiencies in the hospital. I was there and nobody was prepared to face an emergency of such magnitude. This is how the idea of starting a project to help came up." (tokyo2020.org, 10 Jun 2020)

SPORTS PROMOTION
She says she wants to promote modern pentathlon in Mexico in order to encourage more people to practise the sport. "One of my challenges is that many people get to know my sport. I am very present on social networks and in the media and I try to invite the media to talk about pentathlon because it is a very beautiful sport. There are many sports that are very beautiful and are not known. As an athlete, I always invite other teammates to speak out more, to share their discipline more and to become more imbued in other areas of society." (tokyo2020.org, 10 Jun 2020)

WRITING
She likes to write in her spare time. "I think that sport makes me have many feelings I want to share with people, and the only way I find to express them is through writing." (Canal 44 YouTube channel, 02 Nov 2018)

She and teammate Mayan Oliver became the first Mexican female modern pentathletes to claim a world championship medal when they won gold in the women's relay at the 2019 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. (excelsior.com.mx, 02 Sep 2019; SportsDeskOnline, 17 Dec 2019)

She became the first Mexican female modern pentathlete to win a Pan American Games gold medal when she won the women's individual event at the 2019 Games in Lima, Peru. (razon.com.mx, 18 Oct 2019; SportsDeskOnline, 17 Dec 2019)