( CNN ) -- A teenager who only picked up sailing to keep out of mischief while her mother worked at a yacht club has become a sporting success story in Mozambique . Maria Mabjaia , 14 , won the bronze medal in the women 's laser radial sailing event at the All-Africa Games last year , and was subsequently named Sports Person of the Year at her country 's sports awards . Her rapid success has seen her travel as far away as Australia and New Zealand to sail in tournaments -- a far cry from the humble village of Maracuene Bolaza , from which Maria regularly makes the 40km trip to train at the Maputo Marine Club . Despite being blessed with thousands of kilometers of coastline , sailing is not a common pastime in Mozambique , a former Portuguese colony is south east Africa . Although she loves the sea , it is likely Maria would never have learned to sail were it not for the fact her mother , also named Maria , worked at the yacht club . Read also : Artist creates objects of beauty from instruments of death . `` I took her there to have fun , to stop her from staying home and just sleeping all the time , '' said her mother . `` I did not expect anything -- what I intended to do was keep her away from mischief . Thank God she got to where she is . '' Maria 's specialty is sailing Optimists -- small yachts typically used by young people to learn to sail . She picked up the skill so quickly due to her dedication to training , she said -- a disciplined approach enforced by her mother . `` She does not let me miss practice , '' said Maria . `` If you do not miss practice , those who are experienced miss practice and get weaker . '' Decio Muianga , one of the club 's directors , said Maria had become a national cause celebre following her unexpected success at September 's All-Africa Games , held in Mozambique . `` Everyone reacted -- everyone was surprised . She was just 13 years old . No one was expecting a girl coming from a poor background to get a medal , '' he said . `` Some of the sailors had been competing for five years , and Maria only had a year and half of training , and she managed to get to the medals . This was the surprise of the All-Africa Games . '' Watch also : Maputo 's changing skyline . Her composure under pressure had played a large part in her success , he said . `` Maria does n't feel the pressure when she has to do something , '' he said . `` The other kids felt the pressure because there were another 13 countries racing for the medal . '' Muianga said the club 's membership used to be mostly made up of foreigners -- diplomats and development workers -- but it had been actively pursuing an outreach program to engage more young people in sailing . While many of the new recruits came from disadvantaged backgrounds , the club would cover the fees of the most promising , in the hope they would act as ambassadors for sailing . Maria 's rapid success would go a long way to attracting other young Mozambicans to the sport , he said . `` For the normal citizens of Maputo , when they look to this club , they always think this is a fancy club , '' he said . `` Normally sailing clubs are like golf clubs , they 're for rich people . But we 're slowly changing this perception . ''
Maria Mabjaia 's bronze sailing medal was one of the surprises of the All-Africa Games . The 23-year-old from Ghana won gold in the women's 470 class at the Rio Olympics on Sunday and will be hoping to add a second title this week when she competes against her compatriot Asafa Powell for Her story is inspiring other Mozambicans from modest backgrounds to sail .