The outcome of what you imagine is not always ideal, and sometimes it ends up turning into an ordeal. What he had to go through German Chiaraviglio in the Tokyo Olympics He did not figure in any dream, and the euphoria with which he arrived led to the desire to leave Japan quickly.
The pole vaulter from Santa Fe, 34 years old, tested positive for covid in the days before his competition, and from then on his stay was a suffering on the island. The relief came only when he left to reunite with his family. The athlete, in an event organized by GP Sports, spoke with Page 12 and expressed his feelings.
–Do you still have the frustration of what you had to live in Tokyo?
– I am processing the very hard experience that touched me, because it was very difficult. There is something that was expected, which was to be left out of the competition for testing positive for covid, since that was something that could happen to anyone. The unexpected was the confinement and isolation to which I was subjected, for ten days. Now that more than a month has passed, I can count it with another peace of mind, but it was very ugly.
–Did you feel mistreated?
-The truth, they did not treat me. We had no relationship or containment mesh to go through those days of isolation from the emotional point of view.
–How was that day to day?
-One was inside a hotel room all day, very small, three by three, where they gave us the possibility of leaving the room in one-hour windows, three times a day, just to go down to the lobby to pick up the food and go back to the room. That was the only way out we had, and we couldn’t go outside the hotel, that’s why I didn’t see the sun for ten days. The windows were sealed, we couldn’t open them, and we couldn’t breathe fresh air. On the roof there was a speaker that spoke to us at specific times, asking us to take our temperature and oxygen saturation. Something very prison. All we had was the internet, which was what entertained me.
–Did it cross your mind to initiate legal action for something that had to do with the human and not with the sports?
– Not punctually, but we can speak it and make it visible so that it does not happen to others. I do not know if it will reach any authority of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), but I learned that there were complaints from other people who had to live the same as me. And it has to do with precisely the human part, because when I was an Olympic athlete, everything was perfect, in containment and attention. But when we became I do not know what, as former athletes, or infected people, the treatment from the human was different. The only thing that was there was the physical control for the symptoms of the covid, but the treatment was cold. At that point, the organization failed, because it was not known how an infected person would go through the stay.
–Could you rescue something positive from this experience?
Yes, to enjoy being free. When you are free you do not realize or value it so much, with what happened to me I was able to understand it better. As I was literally locked in, when I was able to go outside I felt a great sense of relief. And also being in contact with other people is super important, that is why I associate it with the issue of the pandemic, because we all had to be confined, and it cost many emotionally. It seems to me that this was underestimated, and it was not given the importance it deserved.
–When you spent those isolated days, did the five years of preparation you had to get there come to mind?
– I am a positive person. Of course, it hurt me a lot not to have competed in the most important tournament, where I made a lot of effort to be, among others, not to see my six-month-old baby for a month and a half. In spite of everything, the year was good because I was a South American champion, I was very regular, and I had good levels of competition. I want to stand from that place and rescue him, and not hide the terrible experience that I had to go through in Tokyo. I am left with the satisfaction of knowing that I qualified, and the pride of being in an opening ceremony with my teammates.
–Could you have the leadership support in all that process?
–The people of the Argentine Olympic Committee (COA) were very close to me in Japan, in attendance, they even sent me some food to eat a little better, because the food was bad. And even President (Gerardo) Werthein called me in the morning every day to find out how I was doing. I felt accompanied until I left Japan, where it was the most serious moment of what had happened to me.
–Are the plans for the future more personal or sporting?
-I’m going to take some vacation time to relax, to be closer to my loved ones. At the same time, I applied for a scholarship to study Sports Marketing at a University of Barcelona, online, and I like that because I was always interested in sports management.
–Do you see yourself occupying a place in that branch?
– I like it, and I am already a bit active because I am a member of the IOC Athletes Commission, and for several years we have been collaborating in solving problems, helping and being close to athletes. That can be a transition for tomorrow.
–How much longer do you plan to continue competing?
– I go from year to year. As long as I have the passion and desire to keep jumping I will, but I understand that I don’t have ten more years to compete.
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