Erika Eiffel, born Erika LaBrie in 1972, is also known as Aya. She is an American archery competitor and an advocate for the idea that objects can be loved and respected. In 2007, she participated in a ceremony where she symbolically "married" the Eiffel Tower.

Military career

After joining the United States Air Force, Eiffel entered the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1993. During her first year, she was sexually assaulted by another cadet but stopped the attack using a training sword. She was later dismissed from the Academy due to a personality disorder. She explained, "I felt I could only sleep if I held something, like my sword, because it made me feel safe. And the problem only got worse."

Archery career

Eiffel began practicing recurve archery in 1999 in Japan and started using a compound bow the following year. In 2003, she won first place in compound bow events at three National Cup tournaments—Arizona Cup, Texas Shootout, and Gold Cup. She did this in both FITA and Olympic rounds. After her sweep, she won gold and set a new FITA team record with Team USA at the 42nd World Target Championships in New York City.

Eiffel, known as "Aya" in the archery community, has competed for the United States in the FITA World Field Championships using Olympic recurve. She has also participated in the FITA Target Championships and FITA World Cup with compound bow. She also took part in the IFAA Indoor Championships, winning gold in 2007 and setting a single-round world record in Freestyle Limited Recurve at Mannheim, Germany.

Eiffel was part of the US National Archery Team for compound bow in 2004 and 2006. She also joined the senior National Team for Olympic recurve in 2009.

Objectum sexuality

Eiffel is the founder of OS Internationale, an organization for people who form meaningful relationships with inanimate objects (object sexuality). She says her relationship with Lance, her competition bow, helped her become a world-class archer.

She first saw the Eiffel Tower in 2004 and felt an immediate connection. She told ABC News that she and others "feel a natural connection to objects. It is normal for us to connect with them in different ways, such as emotionally, spiritually, and even physically for some." In April 2009, on the second anniversary of her marriage to the Eiffel Tower, she appeared on Good Morning America and explained how her love for objects helped her succeed. Her 20-year relationship with the Berlin Wall inspired the musical theater production Erika's Wall.

In 2011, Finnish journalist Janne Flinkkilä moved to Berlin for a year to write a book about Eiffel's object relationships and daily life. The book, Rautaiset rakastajat – matkani Erika Eiffelin maailmaan ("Iron Lovers – My Trip into Erika Eiffel's World"), was published in Finland in October 2012.