The Extraordinary Life of Paula Pareto: From Olympic Glory to Medicine

Paula Pareto in Random – What differentiates Little Pareto from other athletes?

Paula Pareto, popularly known as La Peque, is a renowned Argentine judoka and doctor. Throughout her career, she won three medals at the World Judo Championships between 2014 and 2018; and she participated in four Summer Olympic Games between 2008 and 2016, earning a bronze medal in Beijing 2008.

She received an Olympic diploma in London 2012, where she finished fifth; and she won the gold medal in Rio de Janeiro 2016. At the Pan American Games, she won three medals between 2007 and 2015. “When I started, I never thought all this could happen. One can imagine it, but for it to happen is very crazy,” she admitted.

With these long-awaited achievements, she set two national records: she became the first Argentine woman to be an Olympic champion and the first Argentine athlete to win two Olympic medals in individual disciplines.

In 2021, she was the first Argentine to carry the Olympic flag at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic Games, representing the American continent. That same year, she retired from the sport to dedicate herself to her other passion: medicine.

Recently, as part of her new life and the projects that drive her to broaden her horizons, she opened a specialty cafe with her family in San Fernando.

Argentine judoka Paula Pareto won gold in Rio 2016 (AFP)

Away from competitions, but always linked to sport, she develops new roles that make her proud. Her profession as a doctor focuses on high-performance athletes and she is a judo coach, leaving her contribution to new generations.

Leo: —Do you feel people’s recognition?

Peque: —Yes, I never looked for it but it’s incredible. They greet me from the trucks, the buses. Maybe some want a photo, but the vast majority greet me and say: “Let’s go Peque, let’s go Argentina.” Argentina as an identification. Many also know me from Masterchef and tell me: “I knew about your sporting career because of that.” And it is like that. TV is like that…

Leo: —How do you remember your years of competition?

Peque: —When I remember, all the emotion of the moment comes back to me because it is something that one can imagine, but for it to happen is very crazy. When I won the gold medal the fight ended, I threw myself on top of the stands and it was great.

Leo: —With all the achievements you have, the medals, the diplomas, do you feel that the recognition given to judo in relation to soccer or more popular sports is unfair?

Peque: —It’s the Argentine idiosyncrasy. It’s what we were raised with and were the basic rules. My dad carried me because I started judo and tennis. And he told me: “Don’t you like tennis more? Look what’s better. Because I was also doing relatively well in tennis. I understand that he was referring to the economy, but he supported me. He told me: “Paula, do what you want, it will still be fine.” Then I stayed with judo because my poor parents put more money into it than anything else. But I never did it for economic reasons. It was always out of passion. Today I continue in the technical part because I want the boys to improve and it is more passionate than anything else. It is being.

Leo: —Does everything you suffer before arriving make it more epic?

Peque: —I think it’s more enjoyable to know everything you went through to get there, all the effort you, your family, your parents, your environment put in, I think that makes it valuable. The more difficult it is and the more effort you put into it, the more you enjoy it. It is a fact.

Paula Pareto in Random: How did La Peque find out that she couldn’t do judo anymore?

In parallel to her sports career, Paula was also building her future outside of the tatami. In 2014 she graduated as a doctor from the University of Buenos Aires and began practicing her profession at the San Isidro Hospital, where she completed her residency in traumatology.

Leo: —Did you always want to be a doctor?

Peque: —When we were girls with a friend we said that we were going to study engineering. Neither of them did (laughs). I remember when we started studying biology at school, we started with the human body and I felt that I was interested. We are like a great machine that coordinates one thing with the other. It caught my attention and I said: “This medicine thing can work.”

Leo: —Was knowing about medicine useful for you to practice a high-performance sport?

Peque: —My coach always tells me: “I’ll leave you with the issue of how far to go and how far not to go because you’re a doctor. “I’m not telling you anything.” And it’s true that I’m always pulling the rope. I won’t tell you more than necessary, but regulating. In high performance you always have injuries. It can happen to any athlete and you have to be very attentive to that push and pull. And being a doctor, for me, I have a plus in that sense.

Leo: —Did it happen to you?

Peque: —Yes, it happened to me with my cervical spine. I knew that at some point the surgery was going to come because I continued training and continued doing despite having an underlying injury. So, the medical specialists I went to told me: “You can’t do judo anymore.” With complete sincerity and totally correct diagnosis and treatment.

Leo: —You can’t do more judo, did they tell you?

Peque: —Yes. The diagnosis was a cervical hernia. They told me: “If you continue doing judo, where you have a blow, twists and excessive force on your neck, this will get worse and you will end up having surgery.”

Leo: —What did you say?

Peque: —This man is crazy (laughs). This was before the Pan American Games in Guadalajara. It was two months before.

Peque: “The more it costs you and the more effort you put into it, the more you enjoy the victory” (AFP)

Leo: —And what did you do?

Peque: —I didn’t come back again. Not because of the doctor but because I always tell my patients: “If you’re not going to listen to me, don’t even come back.”

Leo: —Sure. Now you see it from another place.

Peque: —I told him: “Thank you for your attention.” What am I going to complain about again and tell him “my hernia came out”? She was going to tell me: “I told you.” I stopped for a month. She did rehabilitation exercises, kinesiology, massages and a stationary bike, which was the only thing she did to have some activity.

Leo: —Did you feel like your grandmother?

Peque: —Totally. More than one doctor had told me: “You have the neck of an 80-year-old man!” (laughs). And I said, “Well, thank you.”

Leo: —And today you are a doctor, with authority over your patients, and you tell them: “If you don’t give me the ball, don’t come.” Did you cross this doctor again?

Peque: —Yes, yes. I saw him a few years later

Leo: —In the hospital where you later worked.

Peque: —Yes, we said to each other: “Hello, doctor. Hello doctor”. And we continue (laughs).

Leo: —The topic was not discussed.

Peque: —No, no. In 2018 I finally had surgery. It was true, but the decision is up to each person.

In 2014, Paula graduated as a doctor from the University of Buenos Aires.

Without the podiums, medals and diplomas, La Peque follows a daily routine that includes going to work every day and doing physical activity to stay in good health. Getting to these places involves taking public transportation and often being recognized on the street. How do you react?

Leo: —Why do you think people are so fond of you?

Peque: —I think what they see differently from the rest of the Argentine athletes is that I take the train, the bus, like any countryman’s son, because I am one. I have a car, but it’s more comfortable for me to go downtown by train, bus or bike and as long as I can, I’m going to do it…

Leo: —Are they surprised to see you there? Do they ask you for photos? Peque: —I’m embarrassed that they ask me for a photo. Yes, it’s the worst thing that can happen to me on the train.

Leo: —And how do you handle it? Peque: —Many know it and don’t ask me for the photos. Then they write to you on Instagram and tell me; “I didn’t ask for a photo because I know you’re embarrassed.” And you say: “Oh, poor thing, he would have taken me out.” But the truth is that he makes me ashamed. It is a reality, but it is also a reality that on the other side they are happy when they see you. Then you say: “How cute!”

Pareto in Random – What would La Peque Pareto be like as a mother?

Methodical and organized, Paula told what her bond with her nieces is like and what she thinks she would be like as a mother with respect to sports.

Leo: —Would you recommend that your daughter or son become a judoka?

Peque: —No, I would urge them to do some sport. By default, all the children of those who were athletes end up doing some sports. Today I have my 9-year-old niece who is doing judo because she wanted to. In fact, if I had had to choose, she would have said no. But when she told me that she was already doing it, I didn’t say, “Don’t do it anymore.” I told him: “How good! Are you doing any other sports?” And she said, “Yes, so and so.” And now she loves judo. She loves it. It’s good that they try. I wouldn’t take a son, but they are surrounded by that. It’s half impossible.

Leo: —Would you like to be a mother?

Peque: —Not at the moment. Maybe it will happen later, but not today. I am with many things. I think that if you want to have a child, you have to be very well organized to give him exactly the things he needs.

Leo: —Are you very dedicated, very organized?

Peque: —I like to do things well. Sometimes they come out and sometimes they don’t. But from the start I always try to have everything in order so that the times, the schedules, the agendas are met. I always say there is a plan A and a plan B. In my case, for example, the issue of surgery was not in plan A and it happened.

Leo: —If you were a mother, would you be strict or not?

Peque: —I don’t know, because you saw that there are a lot of people who say: “You who are so strict, look what your son is like. It is a disaster”. Disaster in the sense that he does what he wants. So I do not know. The truth is that today I can compare the situation with my nieces, who sometimes I don’t know why they love me. I tell him: “Not this. He looks like I’m not laughing at the youngest one, who is one year old. And she laughs, looks at me, they go off to do something else and after a while she comes back: “Aunt, aunt.”

Leo: —How many do you have?

Little: —Two. A 9-year-old and a one-year-old who are my sister’s daughters. It also happened to me with my oldest niece that I don’t know who told her: “Let’s tell Paula to get into the pool.” And she looks and tells him: “The aunt doesn’t get into the pool.” Poor saint, she already knows that water makes me cold and that I don’t like it very much. My niece put me in the water in the south, but well, what do I know? The love for the niece at that moment could do it.

Leo: —Love can do more.

Peque: —I almost froze, but hey, happiness was worth it.

Paula: “I take the train and the bus like any countryman, because I am.”

Leo: —Favorite food?

Peque: —My dad’s roast.

Leo: —Rate yourself as a chef from 1 to 10.

Little: —8.

Leo: —As a doctor?

Little: —8.

Leo: —As an athlete?

Peque: —Well, I’m going to give myself a 9 (laughs).

Leo: —Favorite movie?

Peque: —Disney’s Hercules.

Leo: —A series?

Peque: —The Simpsons.

Leo: —The best athlete in history? It can be from any discipline.

Peque: —Manu Ginobili. He is a good person and a good athlete.

La Peque: “I’m embarrassed that they ask me for photos on the train.”

Leo: —Up or down?

Peque: —Up. Everything is always better.

Leo: —Would you rather be invisible or immortal?

Peque: —Invisible because you can get anywhere. You can go on the train and no one sees you, sometimes I want to be invisible (laughs). I think that immortal you must get tired at some point. You wouldn’t enjoy life as much.

Leo: —How romantic are you? From 1 to 10.

Peque: —0.50 (laughs).

Leo: —¿Nostalgica?

Peque: —Uff. I became more nostalgic as I grew up. I would give it a 5. It was all the games’ fault. After Rio…

Leo: —Would you rather have three arms or three legs?

Little: —Three arms. An extra hand for judo is good for you.

Leo: —Complete the sentence. I never…

Peque: —I ran away from school.

Leo: —Sometimes…

Peque: —I pass by with the bike with the red light.

Leo: —When I grow up I want to be…

Peque: —Businesswoman.

Leo: —Every day until age 60 or once a week until age 90?

Peque: —One until I’m 90. I’m conservative. I prefer durability.

Leo: —Would you rather be unfaithful or be unfaithful?

Peque: —That they are unfaithful to me because otherwise I would feel guilty. Let the other one eat it.

Leo: —Would you prefer to lie or be lied to?

Peque: —That they lie to me for the same reason as the previous one. I sleep peacefully. I think we can all send it to each other, but if you give me the choice I prefer it to be the other one.

Leo: —A word with which you define yourself.

Peque: —Perseverance.

RANDOM – Complete interview with Paula “Peque” Pareto
2024-01-24 04:39:12
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