Paula Belén Pareto (born 16 January 1986) is an Argentine retired

judoka is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

and physician. She was the flag bearer for her country at the 2016 Summer Olympics closing ceremony held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She competed at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

. She was the first Argentinian woman to become Olympic Champion having won gold at the women's 48 kg event at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

Biography

Paula, nicknamed "La Peque" (The small one), was born in San Fernando, Argentina. She lives with her parents in Tigre, close to the capital city. She began

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

at the age of four, and a year later, she took up

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

. Her inspiration for judo arose when she was 9, and her younger brother Marco came home from school beaten up. Her father, Aldo, used to practice judo when he was young, so he decided to send Marco to a judo club. Paula was curious and wanted to go too. Her first judo club was Club San Fernando. She soon won her first tournament, and when she decided to continue practicing judo, she moved to bigger

Club Estudiantes de La Plata ( lit. "La Plata Students"), simply referred to as Estudiantes de La Plata, is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Plata. The club's association football, football team currently competes in the Argentine Primera División, Prime ...

. First years she competed in the −44 kg division but later moved up to the −48 kg category. She is a big

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

fan and plays football with her friends. She had a period when she wanted to play football professionally, but she left the idea to pursue her judo career after that. Her favorite club is

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

and her home club

Estudiantes de La Plata ( lit. "La Plata Students"), simply referred to as Estudiantes de La Plata, is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Plata. The club's football team currently competes in the Primera División, where it has spent most of its histo ...

. During the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, in an interview said that she is single, and her mother Mirta commented that it was like "You are engaged to judo". Paula has a younger brother named Marco, who supports her on her journeys around world tournaments, and an older sister named Estefanía, who is a

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

. She studied

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

at the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires (, UBA) is a public university, public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the second-oldest university in the country, and the largest university of the country by enrollment. Established in 1821 ...

and graduated in March 2014. In November 2010, Paula was granted the Platinum Konex Award as Argentina's best sportswoman of the last decade. In December 2015, she received the Gold Olimpia Award as the best athlete of the year from her country. In 2024, Pareto became a member of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

Judo

Pareto won the bronze medal at the

in one of the most dramatic matches of the tournament. She stood against Pak Ok-song from North Korea, Pak was active the whole match and earned a koka for her activity. The drama unfolded in the last 10 seconds when Pak initiated a technique, but Pareto countered with her own move, a

Kuchiki taoshi is a single leg takedown in Judo adopted later by the Kodokan into their Shinmeisho No Waza (newly accepted techniques) list. It is categorized as a hand technique, Te-waza. The technique was popularized by Kyutaro Kanda in 1926. Yaichihyō ...

. Problems arose when the jury counted the technique for Pak, perhaps because she began to move first. In the end, Pak celebrated the medal, and Pareto cried, but her trainer Carlos Denegri lodged an objection, so the jury checked the video. Finally, they agreed that it was Pareto who made the technique (Kuchiki taoshi), and so she took the medal. Pareto is also very successful in continental games and championships like

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

. Pareto won the gold medal at the 2015 World Championships in August in Astana, Kazakhstan, her first world title. At the

, Pareto defeated Jeong Bo-kyeong to capture an Olympic gold medal.

Achievements

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pareto, Paula 1986 births Living people Argentine female judoka Argentine people of Italian descent Argentine women physicians Judoka at the 2007 Pan American Games Judoka at the 2008 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 2012 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 2011 Pan American Games Judoka at the 2015 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for Argentina Pan American Games silver medalists for Argentina Pan American Games bronze medalists for Argentina 21st-century Argentine physicians 21st-century Argentine women physicians Sportspeople from San Fernando de la Buena Vista Olympic judoka for Argentina Olympic bronze medalists for Argentina Olympic medalists in judo Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Argentina Judoka at the 2016 Summer Olympics University of Buenos Aires alumni Pan American Games gold medalists in judo Pan American Games silver medalists in judo Pan American Games bronze medalists in judo South American Games gold medalists for Argentina South American Games silver medalists for Argentina South American Games medalists in judo World judo champions Competitors at the 2006 South American Games Competitors at the 2010 South American Games Competitors at the 2014 South American Games Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Judoka at the 2020 Summer Olympics 20th-century Argentine women 21st-century Argentine sportswomen Argentine International Olympic Committee members Judoka at the 2019 Pan American Games