Pareto in Rosario: “The jadar are the beginning to understand what an Olympic game means”
The first edition of the Argentine High Performance Games in Rosario had a luxury guest: Paula ‘small’ Pareto, Olympic champion in Rio de Janeiro 2016 and undisputed reference of Argentine sport. The Judoca, who knew how to leave an indelible mark on the Tatami and in the hearts of the Argentines, was excited by the experience that thousands of young athletes live these days and highlighted the value of the jadar as a foundational space for the Olympic and Paralympic movement.
With the warmth that characterizes it, Pareto celebrated the integration between conventional and adapted athletes that is reflected in these competences. “It’s nice, it’s good. We already trained in Judo, sharing spaces with blind boys, making fighting among all,” said the little one.
And he expanded: “For those of us who live it on a day to day, it is not something new, but for many people outside it can be different. The important thing is that it is understood that it is not: everything is sport, each with their categories, either by weight or visibility. Everything is high performance, everything is sport and everything can be integrated. Now we demonstrate it in the same competition, and I think it is a very good initiative of the Olympic Committee and the Paralympic Committee Argentine to make these games together. ”
The Olympic champion also valued the place of the jadar within the Olympic cycle: “They are important because they arrive in a year in which other large competitions did not yet, such as the South American or Pan -American Games. And here, instead, there is high performance. It gives the chance to the one who never lived it to experience what an Olympic event means national We aspire. ”
With nostalgia, Pareto acknowledged that he would have liked to have a similar instance during his first steps as a athlete. “It would have been a nice competition to discover and understand what an Olympic game is. In my first game, Beijing 2008, I had passed through a South American and a Pan -American, but I had no idea what an Olympic game was. For me it was like that only those enlightened by a wand came. Olympic, even without having yet reached an Olympic game, ”he said.
The little boy also had words of praise for the host city: “I always liked Rosario, it always seemed to me a very pretty city. I have many friends and acquaintances here, so maybe I have subjectivity, but really today he showed that in the sports field can also contribute a lot to the country. The infrastructure they showed is fantastic, this is like an Olympic village. For the South American Games, with adequate facilities to receive a greater number of people. ”
In addition, she showed her most personal side when talking about the places that attract her most from Rosario. “The river, the coast, all the green and nature love because they remind me of my childhood. And if the Argentine flag is flaming next to it, better. That is why the monument to the flag seems to me one of the most beautiful places in the country,” he said.
The little Pareto, who made history with her gold medal in Rio 2016 and bronze in Beijing 2008, not only left a legacy in the Tatami, but also in the way sport as a tool for integration, education and personal improvement. His passage through Rosario and the Jadar ratified that commitment and made it clear that this new national event is much more than a competition: it is a founding step for the future of Argentine sport.
Fuente: Municipality of Rosario
