By Carlos Alberto Romay | 1 February 2019
The key to a high-performance sport is the mentality, more than physicality. Paula Pareto’s Judoka training method is based on specific circuits, a few minutes and very explosive.
After winning the Olympic gold, in Rio 2016, “La Peque” sought to give priority to her career, especially to the medical residence where she performs at the Hospital of San Isidro. But, the judoka is so restless, that anything can happen.
Source: lacapitalmdp.com
That’s why it’s not strange that in the Grand Slam of Ekaterinburg that ended recently, she won a silver medal, and a few days before that, she was climbing the highest mountain in America, walking up to 18 hours a day.
She did not climb to the top but she accepted the invitation of basketball player, Fabricio Oberto, to join the group of athletes who tried the ascension. Paula Pareto had the excitement of reaching the Plaza de Mulas, at 4,300 meters, just short of the summit, which is at 6,960 meters.
The purpose was focused on living the experience and carrying on the flag of the “Buenos Aires Youth Games 2018″, referring to the values they represent such as respect, humility, companionship, and sharing stories of life from the team. Experienced people say that climbing is a long-distance race in which you tire little, but you do not stop.
It was a group of 20 people, including 12 athletes who overcame important health problems. One was missing a leg, and another was missing a lung, but they did not let this stop them.
Source: infobae.com
Some people from the training club say climbing means enduring many hours of walking, but the most difficult thing is not to fall mentally, and not let it get you down after spending several weeks sleeping little, living in tents, and feeling cold all the time. A permanent discomfort, day by day, can make you weaken. Pareto did it without having the training base to climb.
Paula Pareto then went on to Russia, where she was able to achieve a medal in each tournament, in a complex category and without complete training. In the final, the Japanese Hiromi Endo, raised a different strategy and Pareto suffered again from an old injury to the right arm.
But to reach a final is not the most important thing. In April, she played the Pan-American, and in the middle of the year begins the qualifications to reach the Olympic Games in Tokyo. At 32, olympic Paula “La Peque” Pareto does not loosen up. She is a superior all-terrain, all around judoka athlete.”
Main image source: Judoinside.com
