{{Short description|Gabonese swimmer (born 2004)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}} {{Infobox sportsperson | name = Aya Mpali | fullname = Aya Girard de Langlade Mpali | image = | caption = | nationality = Gabonese | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|2004|6|24}} | birth_place = | height = | weight = | country = Gabon | sport = Swimming | event = Women's 50m freestyle | club = | coach = Saturnin Mpali }}
'''Aya Girard de Langlade Mpali''' (born 24 June 2004) is a Gabonese swimmer who has represented her country in international competitions. She was chosen, together with her brother, to compete at the postponed 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, swimming in the women's 50 metre freestyle heats.
==Early life== Aya Girard de Langlade Mpali was born on 24 June 2004 and has a brother, fellow competitive swimmer Adam Mpali.<ref name=Tokyo2020>{{cite web |title=Swimming GIRARD de LANGLADE MPALI Aya |url=https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/en/results/swimming/athlete-profile-n1290655-girard-de-langlade-mpali-aya.htm |access-date=26 July 2021 |website=Tokyo 2020 Olympics |archive-date=26 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210726205222/https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/en/results/swimming/athlete-profile-n1290655-girard-de-langlade-mpali-aya.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref> She took up swimming at the age of 4, something she says sets her apart within the national competition but is not an advantage compared to swimmers from the rest of the world.<ref name=Lunion>{{cite web |website=L'Union |date=7 January 2021 |title=Aya Girard De Langlade Mpali : " Tokyo constitue pour moi un tremplin" |url=https://www.union.sonapresse.com/gabon-sport/aya-girard-de-langlade-mpali-tokyo-constitue-pour-moi-un-tremplin-23956 |access-date=26 July 2021 |language=fr}}</ref><ref name=Tokyo2020/>
==Career== Mpali and her brother competed at the 2019 African Games and 2019 World Swimming Championships; she went out in the heats at both events.<ref name=Tokyo2020/> She was a flagbearer for Gabon at the 2020 Summer Olympics in 2021. However, she did not have great ambitions for the competition. She was one of the first women to qualify for the Games at the World Championships in 2019, but she could no longer train after the COVID-19 pandemic took hold. Still a teenager in 2021, she explained she had more ambitions for the 2024 Summer Olympics. She was hoping to attend a university abroad where she could join a swimming club to train. She hoped to use the experience of the 2021 event as a springboard to prepare for the 2024 Games.<ref name=Lunion/> Her brother, who lives in France, also competed for Gabon at the 2020 Olympic Games.<ref>{{cite web |title=Swimming GIRARD de LANGLADE MPALI Adam |url=https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/en/results/swimming/athlete-profile-n1290664-girard-de-langlade-mpali-adam.htm |access-date=26 July 2021 |work=Tokyo 2020 Olympics |publisher=Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games |archive-date=26 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210726205223/https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/en/results/swimming/athlete-profile-n1290664-girard-de-langlade-mpali-adam.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref> She swam in the women's 50 metre freestyle race in the second of eleven heats on 30 July 2021 and did not proceed.
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{FINA|1184221|Aya Mpali}} * {{Olympedia|142944|Aya Girard de Langlade Mpali}} * {{Olympics.com profile|aya-girard-de-langlade-mpali|Aya Girard de Langlade Mpali}}
{{s-start}} {{s-sports|oly}} {{succession box | before = Anthony Obame | title = Flagbearer for {{GAB}} | years = Tokyo 2020<br />with <br />Anthony Obame | after = Wissy Frank Hoye Yenda Moukoula<br />Noelie Annette Lacour }} {{s-end}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Girard de Langlade Mpali, Aya}} Category:2004 births Category:Living people Category:Gabonese female swimmers Category:Olympic swimmers for Gabon Category:Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Category:Female freestyle swimmers Category:21st-century Gabonese sportswomen