Natalia Gaitan to Represent Colombia in Summer Olympics
4/20/2012 4:07:00 PM | Women's Soccer
TOLEDO, OH - University of Toledo women's soccer player Natalia Gaitàn is gearing up for another action-packed summer squaring off against the best competition in the world. The Bogota, Colombia native will represent her home country in the Summer Olympics from July 25-August 11 in London. It will be the first-ever Olympic appearance for the Colombia Women's Soccer Team.
Gaitàn, who will be a senior in the fall, is currently in the process of wrapping up her spring semester at UT and will fly home on Friday, May 4. The following day she will begin training with her national teammates in preparation for London and the XXXth Olympiad. The squad is expected to train together for the ensuing three weeks, take a week-long break, then reconvene for three more weeks of practice before leaving for London.
The three-year soccer letterwinner is one of four current NCAA Division I student-athletes on the Colombia National Team roster, which includes Austin Peay's Tatiana Ariza, Indiana's Orianica Velasquez and Kansas' Liana Salazar.
Colombia, which will field one of 12 women's soccer teams in the Summer Olympics, will find out its draw on Tuesday, April 24. They qualified for the showcase event by reaching the finals of the 2010 South American Women's Soccer Championships in Gaitàn's hometown.
Due to an intense schedule, the soccer competition actually kicks off two days before the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony with the first group matches. The competition will begin with a group stage. The teams will be divided into groups of four and the best eight teams will qualify for the quarterfinals. From there, the competitions are a knockout format: the two winning semifinalists will play for the gold medal at Wembley Stadium, with the two losing semifinalists facing off for the bronze.
The soccer competition at London will be staged at City of Coventry Stadium, (Coventry); Hampden Park (Glasgow); Millennium Stadium (Cardiff); Old Trafford (Manchester); St James' Park (Newcastle) and Wembley Stadium (London).
Gaitàn possesses a wealth of national team experience. Last summer she served as a captain for Colombia at the 2011 FIFA Women's World CupTM in Germany.
Gaitàn is coming off an outstanding 2011 fall campaign for the Midnight Blue & Gold. She was named second-team NSCAA All-Great Lakes Region, first-team All-Mid-American Conference and third-team National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Scholar All-America. Gaitàn was an integral part of a Toledo defense that posted nine shutouts. She played every minute of 20 matches and finished fourth on the team with eight points (one goal, six assists), ranking tied for fourth in the MAC in helpers. The Rockets finished with a 14-7-2 overall mark, 9-1-1 in the conference. UT successfully defended its MAC regular-season championship and captured a league-record fourth tournament title, advancing to the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2008.
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