“Sport Is One of the Most Beautiful Things” – Iona Gualdi

First female racquet of Argentina, Iona Gualdi, medalist at Pan Am Junior Games and South America Junior Games, started playing badminton at a very young age and at only 17 years old she has already competed in various international tournaments.

Within the framework of International Women’s Day, Badminton Pan Am celebrates outstanding women in our sport through interviews throughout the month of March: the Pan Am Women’s Month.

“Sports, in addition to being good and healthy, is one of the most beautiful things, from people and relationships within sports, to feeling good about yourself and having fun.”

Iona Gualdi, representative of Argentine badminton, learned about badminton in her school classes at age 9, and continues to enjoy the various things that our sport has brought to her life in these, so far, 8 years of badminton.

“The best thing that sport gave me was discipline, perseverance, effort, meeting new people, friendships, visiting countries, among other beautiful things.”

Badminton in Argentina continues to develop at a high level and evidence of this is the recent participation of Iona along with the Argentine team in the Pan American Cup 2023, this being the first participation of an Argentine team in a Continental Mixed Team Championship.

“I would love for my country to grow in internal badminton competitions, so the level rises,” says Iona, watching over the development of badminton in Argentina and expecting how far they could go with the development they are achieving.

Good and bad moments are not alien to sport, but Iona knows that motivation focuses on a goal and that is how she can face difficult moments in her day to day.

“In sport there are always ups and downs, such as injuries or trying hard and things don’t go as planned. But despite these things, you always have a goal you want to reach and that is the best incentive to keep fighting until you achieve it.”