Tove Paule, fresh from winning the battle of the national sports bureaucrats last weekend, wrapped up a week on Friday that she could only describe as “extremely hectic.”
Tove Paule after winning the presidency of Norway’s athletic association. PHOTO: BIRTE SUSANN ULVESETH / SCANPIX |
Paule barely had time to make a pit stop at her home in Drammen, between all the media demands on her time and a pile of meetings. She did take time, however, to uphold an earlier commitment to speak at a local gymnastic tournament.
“That’s what I really like,” the former secretary general of the Norwegian Gymnastics Association told newspaper Aftenposten. “And it’s all about priorities. I had promised to be their speaker, and I follow through on promises.”
Now Paule is the new president of the Norwegian Olympic Committee and Confederation of Sports (Norges Idrettsforbund og Olympiske Komit) after prevaliling in a messy political power struggle where she was up against a long list of male rivals. Paule, age 56, is the first woman to head the association that governs all of Norway’s sports foundations, from skiing to soccer.
Paule faces huge challenges as national athletics boss, as she must lobby for more state funding and balance the interests of a huge range of individual athletics associations. She said she’s eager to get to work as soon as possible.
First, though, she spent an evening this week with just 33 girls aged seven to 14 who have gymnastic ambitions. “You’re all winners,” she told them. Paule herself proved to be the biggest winner of all.
By Nina Berglund
Lifted and published by African Press International, api, africanpress@chello.no tel +47 932 99 739 or +47 6300 2525. source.aftenpostenEng
