Madrid (EFE).- Jennifer Pareja, new director of the ADO program, predicts that the Paris 2024 Games will mean “a turning point” for Spanish sport with the achievement of “between 20 and 24 medals”, backed by scholarships that the Government and the Olympic Committee (COE) “want to revitalize”.
In charge of the project since her appointment on the 1st, after four and a half years as adviser to the presidency of the Higher Sports Council (CSD), the world and European champion and Olympic water polo runner-up told EFE that she intends to infect companies her passion for sport and that translates into aid like the ones she received in the form of scholarships during her career.
Q. How do you plan to reactivate a plan that was practically paralyzed after the Tokyo Games?
R. It is about revitalizing something that has been a model of total success and that has helped many athletes. For Tokyo in 2021, 421 athletes and 128 technicians received scholarships. The pandemic was hard on everything, when the Games were postponed, companies were asked to make an effort for another year and everything fell apart. The companies were disconnected and must be reconnected. They believe in this, but sponsorship trends have changed and we need to update what we offer to the new social and sporting moment.
Q. Where are you going to start?
R. The first thing is to talk to them, first those who have already been there and then others, see their needs, why they have gotten out of this and make self-criticism. In 2021, 7 companies stayed. Make a generic sponsorship plan, but contemplating the needs of each one.
Q. How will the ADO scholarships coexist with those of the CSD Team España Elite?
R. They will be complementary. The Team España Elite program is one more leg, so that everything that comes from more can reach a more specific preparation, innovation, technology and look for new preparation channels. The main idea is to get the maximum funding.
Q. As a former ADO fellow in two Olympic cycles, are you going to use that first-hand experience to convince companies how they can change an athlete’s career?
R. I want to think that, if I tell it, I really know what it is, I can convince companies that we need them for this to continue growing. I can tell it in the first person and that is an added value. As an athlete, I was aware of when the ADO scholarship would arrive. I want to pull a lot of that human part. Tax benefits are a good tool, but I want to go with my Olympic medal and tell them: this is yours.
Q. Will the finalist criteria, by results, be maintained for the distribution of scholarships?
A. The ADO criteria are checked. The technical commission formed by the COE and the CSD works with one hundred percent objective criteria and will continue to be so. The key will be that the two institutions, COE and CSD, consider the ADO plan as a priority, that they both believe in it. The message that this is real is very useful for companies. We are looking at other models, the United States, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, because, being our plan that was copied, we have to see other versions right now. The initial approaches were good, but they must be redesigned and a new approach based on values, digitization, innovation and pride of belonging must be developed.
Q. The engagement of women’s sports, can it be one more claim for companies?
R. Yes, because of that claim there are already more companies that believe in the sport. The scholarships are the same for everyone, but the companies that have joined women’s sports have seen what it brings them and now we can attract them to prepare athletes for the Olympic Games. This concept is beastly. There are other objectives, but being a sponsor of the preparation of an Olympic team… without that, the other would not exist.
Q. The Spanish Olympic results have been maintained despite the decrease in the economic contribution in previous cycles. But the barrier of 22 Barcelona’92 medals is still there (there were 17 in 2016 and 2021). Do you see it possible that this limit will be exceeded in Paris 2024?
R. I risk it: I think that Paris is going to be a new turning point in Spanish sport. The results we are obtaining in European and world championships indicate that the conditions are in place for this inflection in the medal table. I really do. I say between 20 and 24 medals. It’s Paris, next door, our same schedule, everything influences, but we’re having very good results and I’m very confident.
Q. Will the women’s water polo, current European champion, be among those medals?
A. Of course! What I don’t know is the color. It would be tremendous. Men’s water polo -world champion- and women’s are two medals that I would already bet on.
Q. Is it also a stimulus for athletes to compete thinking that they can win a scholarship?
R. The greatest satisfaction upon reaching this position has been the calls I have received from athletes. For me it is recognition, to continue growing at the work level, but what I really valued was the support of the athletes. It is a first step to make them understand the importance of getting involved with companies. It’s easier if they see you as one of them. And it is true, the athlete not only plays with the pressure of the match, of the championship, he knows that he is playing for an ADO scholarship, to be able to dedicate one hundred percent to sport.
Q. After your withdrawal from the pool, which was very painful, did you imagine yourself occupying these decisive positions in sports management shortly after, a field in which women have little presence?
R. That also made me excited. But the answer to the question is… no way! The only thing that was clear to me was that I wanted to dedicate myself to sport. When I competed, I thought that nothing was going to excite me like that; but I go to Iberdrola and I’m passionate about it, I go to CDS and I’m passionate about it, I come to ADO and I’m passionate about it. So really the common factor, which is sport, is what I’m passionate about. I also see that we have a responsibility as women to step up. I know exactly where I’ve gotten myself. We have to open a few more doors than are already open. If mine serves to encourage more women to take the plunge, perfect. And it is also the first time that an ex-sportswoman is here, someone who has experienced it from the inside.
