Laia Tutzó competed in the Beijing Olympics. I had the awesome opportunity to catch up with Laia and ask her a few questions.
An Olympic athlete and professional sailor, Laia is now working on Sports & Entertainment Management projects. She is passionate about communications, 360 innovation and research & development landscapes.
She is a non stop traveler, inspired by nature and deeply attached to a small island in the Mediterranean: Menorca.
Read the full interview below.
Where are you from?
I was born in Barcelona (Spain), even my family comes from Menorca, a small and very beautiful island at Balearic Islands (Mediterranean sea).
What year/sport did you participate in the Olympics? What country did you represent?
I participated on Beijing 2008 Olympics in Sailing (470 Women class), representing Spain.
How did you get on the Olympic team?
We did some international trials on two races before the Olympics, one in Melbourne (Australia) and the other in Palma de Mallorca (Spain) and we qualified the country and got the right to go to the Olympics. After 8 years of work it just felt great! Previous to Beijing Olympic campaign I took part on Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 as a member of the Pre-Olympic team.
What was your experience like at the Olympics?
It was kind of sweet and sour. Our performance was good during the big part of the event, with great chances to achieve a medal, on podium positions, but we had a couple of bad days a the end of the championships that brought us to the final 10th place.
When you have a look at that with the distance, everything comes to place, but the feelings were pretty intense at that moment… Defeats always leave a background of sadness, but learning comes as well, and nowadays I feel lucky of having the chance to fight and be there.
What do you do now?
I’m back to sailing in multihulls (new and fast boat discipline)! It´s really nice! On the professional side, I finished my university on 2003 and I’m a lawyer. After the 2008 Olympics I got the chance to run a new High Performance Sailing Center in Barcelona (Spain). At the end, If you’ve been an athlete yourself you know what other athletes may need to feel comfortable and improve their skills.
What are your favorite websites/apps?
Twitter, Flipboard, Instagram, Foursquare, Linkedin, Youtube, National Geographic, Americas Cup (specially race video streaming), Volvo Ocean Race, Lonely Planet, BBC News and miscelaneas of spanish media like La Vanguardia or El Pais.
How is your experience with about.me?
Just great! I enjoy to be part of about.me. I use it like a complement to my own web (www.laiatutzo.com). It´s very easy to use an very powerful in terms of look & feel. I think it´s a unique platform to show to the world who you are, and link your social life into it!
