Physician, Olympian, Gold medalist: as inspiring as it gets
Paula Pareto has entered for judo matches in all the major events in the world-be it the World Championships, the Masters, the Grand Prix or the Pan American Games. And yes, the Olympics. In the Rio edition, Pareto came out the topper, planting kisses on the coveted gold medal.
Making matters more interesting is the fact that this Argentinian athlete is also a physician(or is it the other way around?). It was only last year that she took the Hippocratic Oath.
In her younger years, judo was a hobby for Dr Pareto. Medicine, meanwhile was to become her vocation, something to which she lent that much gravity. However, with the years, what was to be a hobby began to take up more time, as well as demanding more dedication -perhaps more than she may have imagined. Instead of forsaking it, Dr Pareto began to carry her textbooks and notes with her when she traveled for the sake of judo.
Related to this ordeal (if that’s what it is) she says that the key was to make each minute count. What this essentially meant was that Pareto would spend the 3 hour bus trip from La Plata-the city where she trained to San Fernando, her hometown listening to medical courses in the recorded form.
Pau, as the doctor is known to her family and friends finished her college degree when she was 27-that’s 2 years further down the line compared with her peers: unavoidable perhaps, given the twin disciplines of medicine and judo deamnding her attention.
Not her first Olympic medal
The gold in Rio isn’t Dr Pareto’s first Olympic medal. Her first was in 2008 when she was still amidst her academic career. And she chose for her academy one of the most esteemed in South America- the University of Buenos Aires. The public university lists four Nobel laureates among its alumni. Also, they have one of the most demanding schools of medicine.
For years on end, it was Dr Pareto’s regular routine to study practically all day long till she slept, finding enough time for two workout sessions.
But it wasn’t easy going. For instance, microbiology was one subject which posed a challenge . She took up the subject in 2007-the same year when she had to participate in the trials for the Beijing Olympics. During that time she took five microbiology tests. But she cleared just four. Yet, she did win a bronze medal. Not that that would have made up for microbiology…
However, despite the challenges, quitting was never a plan for Dr Pareto. Carrying the twin responsibilities of being a world-class athlete and a medical student with aplomb, she pushed ahead.
However, she doesn’t think that it’s up to one’s own efforts to get great results in sports-it depends on yourself, the opponent, and also the referees, she says.
Ophthalmology was what she chose as her last university exam. When she passed the test, she was taken to the square in front of the university by her friends and relatives where she was covered over with vinegar and mayonnaise among other things-an Argentinian tradition, apparently. But soon after, she was on a car(the seat of which was covered with plastic bag so that it won’t get ruined), on the way to training.
At the ceremony in which she was awarded the diploma, she compared it to the Olympic medal she won in Beijing, saying the joy she felt was the same.
Image credits: sports.le.com