BUENOS AIRES, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Argentina's hockey star Julieta Jankunas said on Sunday that the Youth Olympic Games is 'special' and urged young athletes to follow their own dreams.
Jankunas, 19, was part of the junior team that won the bronze medal at Nanjing 2014 and she was the top scorer in the tournament with 19 goals. She was only 15 at the time.
"I have the best memories of the Youth Games, what I experienced there was incredible," Jankunas said. "If I could, I would go through it again, 1,000 times. The Youth Games motivated me. It was almost like jumping into the life of a professional player, [in terms of] being careful with the meals [and] exercising a lot," she added.
"It was then when I knew that this wasn't only about hockey. I chose to follow that path to achieve my dream of playing for the senior team."
Among the things that Jankunas remembered about Nanjing 2014 is the Youth Olympic Village. "It was beautiful to live there, where you get to share a home with people from all over the world and meet a lot of people." Jankunas said. "Getting to be the top scorer at Nanjing was something unbelievable. I still cannot believe it. I wish I could live it again."
After Nanjing 2014, her team won the 2016 Women's Hockey Junior World Cup in Chile. And this year she played her first senior World Cup in London.
"Playing for senior team and playing for junior team are two different things. You get different sensations and feelings," she said. "But when you're wearing Argentina's shirt you just want to honor it, so the passion is the same."
