Garcia started at the age of fifteen for the first time at a major international event, the 2001 World Junior Championships in Warsaw . Although she made it into the semifinals there on the 500 m distance, she was only fourth. A year later, she could not repeat this at the same event in Chuncheon , instead she was eliminated in every race at the latest in the quarterfinals. After she had again achieved good results a year later at the Junior World Championships, which took place in Budapest in 2003 , including a fourth place in the relay, she took part with the American team in the team world championship of the same year. Here she was unsuccessful, even with theShe failed in the first lap of every single World Championship in 2003 . Nevertheless, the American federation nominated her for the first time in October 2003 for the 2003/04 World Cup , where she survived a total of 14 races over 1000 m, 500 m and with the relay the heats. At the World Cup in Beijing , she reached third place in the relay and thus the only podium finish in her career.
After two more appearances in the 2004/05 World Cup , which were not very successful, Garcia took part in the Junior World Championships for the last time in 2005. Once again she achieved fourth place in the relay, but in the individual races she did not make it to the finals. As a season member, she was used together with Allison Baver , Kim Hyo-jung , Caroline Hallisey and Kimberly Derrick at the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin . As in two Junior World Championships, the American team only missed the podium by one place because it won the B final and was fourth. She did not start internationally in the 2006/07 season, nor did it in the 2007/08 winter. Only in the World Cup 2008/09 she reported back with a tenth place over 500 m at the third station in Beijing . After the season, Garcia ended her active career.
Web links
Maria Garcia in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
United States