Paula Pareto: between the ambo and judo, the golden doctor – The preview

It was a Saturday afternoon in Rio de Janeiro and the sun was shining in Barra de Tijuca. That August 6, 2016, the first day of competition at the Olympic Games, a golden page was written in the history of our beloved Argentine sport.

Under the imposing roof of the Arena 2 stadium in the Olympic Park, thousands of Brazilians shouted “Co-re a, Co-re-a!”, From the other side of the stands a handful of Argentines responded: “Peque! Peque! “.

It is that Paula Belén Pareto was going for a dream, for the gold medal in judo in the 48 kg category. in front of the Korean Jeong.

Wielding the microphone of Chain 3, with our hearts beating with pure emotion, we tried to narrate for “La Previa”, that magical and unforgettable moment offered to us by an athlete that time will turn into a legend: on the Carioca tatami, Pareto suffered a cut on his lip from blows of the type Korean boxing to the minute of the fight. And when he came back, he found the turn to score a waza-ari, the second highest score in judo, after the ippon (knockout).

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There were two minutes to go and the strategy was to resist and get stuck on the tatami. Thus passed the final seconds until the expected scream, until the endless hug with Mom Mirta and friends. With colleagues or former colleagues. And with Laura, his coach, his guide.

And then the tears, the emotion, the arms raised and that long-awaited golden medal, hanging on the chest, in the Olympus of world sport.

“La Peque” became the first Argentine woman in history to be an Olympic champion. She already had a bronze in Beijing 2008, something that no woman had achieved either. She also obtained an Olympic diploma in London 2012. She was already a World Champion in 2015 in Astana, Kazakhstan.

The swimmer Jeannette Campbell led the way to the Olympic medals for national athletes when she hung the silver one in Berlin 1936. The athlete Noemi Simonetto followed her with another silver one in London 1948.

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It took forty years for the tennis player Gabriela Sabatini to also win silver in Seoul 1988. And the bronzes came later, with the sailor Serena Amato in Sydney 2000, the swimmer Georgina Bardach in Athens 2004.

That was the end of his successful temporary biography: but there is another “Little” Pareto. The one who started practicing judo at the age of 9 in San Fernando. The one that represented Estudiantes de Plata for which it took three hours to go, between train and bus. The one who trained two hours in the afternoon and stayed to sleep at a friend’s in La Plata. The one who the next morning practiced another two hours and again three hours traveling to return. The one who studied, while training and reaping glory in sports.

And he studied where he could, on the train, on the bus, in concentrations, wherever he had a minute. The one who one day graduated from a doctor and became Dr. Pareto. The resident doctor. The one that made magic over time so that both vocations can coexist. The one who got up at 5 in the morning to carry out his residency in a public hospital. The one who worked 14 hours, if she did not have a 24-hour guard. The one who trained tirelessly at Cenard, every afternoon.

Always trying to help. In addition to judo and work, Pareto closely followed the progress of his contribution to the Huella Weber program that his sponsor has had for 6 years and includes other national sports ambassadors. Paula chose a dining room in Tigre for 200 boys who needed to have a shed.

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This is the life of Pareto: between the ambo, the judoguis (clothing of the judocas) and solidarity. Squeeze every minute of the day. She continues traveling by public transport, said in Cordovan, the Olympic Champion Doctor travels in bondi and sometimes the drivers do not want to charge her. This is Dr. Paula Belén Pareto. He is 33 years old and continues to dream and sacrifice for those dreams. He says that the important thing is to enjoy the journey, the process, then the result is a consequence of the previous work.

This is the story of a golden judoka, a fighter for life, a “Peque” weighing 48 kgs, that on that Rio de Janeiro afternoon that we were lucky enough to relate, a giant was felt ascended to the top of the Olympic podium and with the gold medal hanging on his chest.

With hundreds of flags waving, with a roaring Rio stadium, as if it were a soccer field prior to a classic. With those arms raised to climb to the sky, without feeling like a star. With those tears that are the closest thing to happiness. Paula Pareto, a golden doctor.