“Argentina has not yet had an Olympic representation in badminton, so playing the Olympic Games is clearly the dream of my life. Playing a World Cup or an All England are also dreams that I have, plus I would like to get a Pan American medal.”
Santiago Otero, a badminton player from Argentina, has clear goals for himself and works every day to achieve them. He has already added various titles in his country that lead him towards his greatest dreams.
“At the national level, I have played many tournaments and luckily I have always done well. I have several gold medals in junior categories and last year I got my first national title in adults and I am very happy with that.”
At the international level, Santiago and the Argentine team have continued to gain experience and gradually obtain the desired results.
“At the international level, the first step was the South American championships, which from the beginning went quite well for us with bronze and silver medals. We are also traveling a lot to compete in various international tournaments, gain experience and develop our game to be competitive at international level.”
“The medium-term goal is to try to score points to qualify for Santiago 2023, so I plan to participate in several tournaments to achieve that goal.”
In recent years, Argentine badminton has been present on various podiums, demonstrating its level of play and its aspirations for the near future, such as the 2023 Pan American Games. Santiago is very aware of this and his current preparation is focused on it.
“To achieve my dreams we are making a lot of efforts, both physically and economically. Trying to have the best possible conditions to train, always have the best attitude to train and try to play many tournaments. I would also like to go to Europe in the future and play a league to compete more often. Those things I would like to do and I think they can be achieved.”
Santiago’s current plans, directed by the goals he has, are not things he had in mind when he started practicing badminton. He played tennis and thanks to the badminton program at his school, he learned about our sport.
“At school, in physical education, they began to teach badminton and that’s when I started practicing it. I played tennis in a particular way but after trying badminton I began to like it, I began to compete and then I left tennis to dedicate myself to badminton.”
The effort of the athletes and the dedication they put into our sport is accompanied by the effort of the family, coaches, friends, and all the organizations involved in the preparation of the athletes. Santiago is aware of this and that his level of play and achievements are not only the result of his own efforts, but also those of those around him.
“I thank my family, since I was very little they supported me in what I liked, Martin, my coach, who always seeks to get things for us, scholarships, trips and supports us a lot, he does a great job and apart from getting things He is a great coach and I think that much of the player I am I owe to him.
I also thank the organizations and national secretariats of Argentina that support us with economic scholarships and support for trips to tournaments.”
