Yane Márcia Campos da Fonseca Marques (born January 7, 1984, in Afogados da Ingazeira) is a modern pentathlon athlete from Brazil. She became nationally known despite the obscurity of her sport in the country after winning a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, the first Latin American to medal and the only woman to do so.
Hailing from the Sertão of the Brazilian state of Pernambuco, Marques moved to the state capital Recife at the age of 11 so her older siblings could attend college. One year later, she became a swimmer for Clube Náutico Capibaribe, where she competed alongside future Olympian Joanna Maranhão. Marques change of sport occurred in 2003, when she was invited to a biathle competition held by Pernambuco's recently inaugurated modern pentathlon federation, part of the then-new Brazilian confederation's plan to spread the sport. Marques won, and was invited by confederation founder Alexandre França to become a pentathlete. Just one year after changing to modern pentathlon, with França as part of her coaching staff, Marques was Brazilian and South American champion.[2][3]
Arriving at the 2012 Summer Olympics with medal expectations, Marques started with a 6th place in fencing, jumped to second following swimming and kept the position following the show jumping. The combined running/shooting closer had Marques win the bronze, Brazil's final medal in those Olympics.[6] Following the Games, Marques rose to 2nd in the world rankings, preceded only by gold medallist Laura Asadauskaitė of Lithuania.[1]
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