Radio Ambulante · My Cultura, Radio Ambulante and iHeartPodcasts

El podio

April 7, 2026·32 min·2 clips
Argentine gymnast Gabriela Parigi reveals the verbal abuse and psychological manipulation she endured as a child athlete.
The excerpt returns after a break. Aneris Casasuz brings the listener back to Gabriela after advertising that sits outside the episode's voice. Gabriela has already been injured and recovered, but recovery has not solved the problem in front of her. She feels she has hit a ceiling. So she changes coaches, not as a dramatic turn, but because she needs a different way to work. She is only sixteen, which should sound early. In high-performance competition, it does not. Gabriela says she had imagined leaving her athletic career around eighteen, with expectations making age feel harsh and fast. Radio Ambulante lets that pressure build in order: injury, recovery, dissatisfaction, a decision, and a future that seems to be shrinking. Aneris keeps to the facts, while Gabriela's testimony gives them weight. She describes becoming older for the archetype around her. The episode does not force a verdict. It stays with a young athlete realizing that talent may not be enough inside a demanding system. The coach change is practical, but it also shows the push and pull already underway between her time, her body, and what the sport expects from her. The excerpt is partial, yet it gets to the nerve of the episode: a girl chasing high-performance competition while sensing how quickly it can move on without her.

As heard by us

Gabriela's push toward one last goal turns elite gymnastics into a story about timing, pressure, and leaving well.

El podio settles into Gabriela's late stretch as an artistic gymnast, after an injury and at the point where time in elite competition starts to feel brutally short. At 16, she changes coaches because she feels she has hit a ceiling and needs a different plan.

Read the full review in PlayNext →
Listen to the show on