Kaitlyn Hughes | features editor
Thousands of spectators sat silent in the stands, waiting.
Waiting for the scores to come in.
Waiting to see if history would be made.
Then, the women’s USA gymnastics team won the gold, and the stadium erupted.
Duquesne Alumna Vanessa Perdomo got to see it in person.
She choked up, tears filling her eyes as she realized she had achieved her dreams while watching others reach theirs.
“It was incredible, definitely an unbelievable experience,” Perdomo said. “Almost, surreal in the way that I felt like I was just watching any other sporting event I’ve ever been to my whole life except you don’t realize ‘Oh my God, this is the Olympics’ like this is so elevated in a different way.”
Growing up, Perdomo’s aspirations were not always to be a sports journalist, but this past summer she found herself covering the business aspects of the Olympics.
Perdomo graduated from Duquesne in December 2016 with a multiplatform journalism degree and has gone on to be a business of sports reporter, host and producer for Bloomberg News. Her journey to her current career started as a studio manager at Studio ME, a space where creators can shoot projects or rent out equipment.
“At the time, I didn’t really know I wanted to do sports,” Perdomo said. “I knew I just wanted to go into news.”
After moving back to her home in New Jersey, she secured a freelance editor position with Bloomberg. Perdomo then went on to start her own team in 2017, becoming an editor and producer for Bloomberg QuickTake, now known as Bloomberg Originals.
“I finally realized: ‘Oh, everything I pitch is sports,’” Perdomo said.
At the time, Bloomberg did not have a big sports reporting team because the company focused on business-related endeavors. Despite this, Perdomo consistently suggested stories centered around athletics. There is now officially a business of sports team under Bloomberg News that became active again last year. Perdomo joined about three months ago.
Beyond the Olympics, Perdomo was able to go to the 2024 Super Bowl, Cannes, Paris for the Future of Sports event and interview the U.S. fencing team before they headed to Paris. Sports were Perdomo’s discipline her whole life. Whether they were teaching her how to be social, be a leader or manage her time, it has shaped her into the person she is today.
“I think sports has always meant more to me than just the game,” Perdomo said.
Perdomo was a goalkeeper for Duquesne’s women soccer before she graduated. Brianna Foster-Lopez was a fellow goalkeeper on the team. The pair were roommates and still remain friends. Foster-Lopez said the way Perdomo breaks down barriers has helped her become the reporter she is today.
“She’s handled everything with so much grace,” Foster-Lopez said.
Between the Olympics and the Super Bowl, Perdomo is doing things that not everyone gets to do.
“She’s doing something that I think many women dream about,” Foster-Lopez said.
Foster-Lopez said that Perdomo has always been an amazing, hard working person socially, professionally and on the field back in college.
She said she gets emotional talking about Perdomo’s successes.
“I am really proud of her,” Foster-Lopez said. “She’s not an individual that takes no for an answer. She’s constantly opening up opportunities for herself.”
Perdomo is continuously touched by the stories of athletes, specifically, during her time at the Olympics.
“It isn’t just a sporting event,” Perdomo said. “These athletes are working their whole lives to get to this one moment. Seeing that dream become a reality is so different than winning a regular game.”
In Paris, she was able to watch gymnastics, basketball, artistic swimming, soccer, track and skateboarding.
Getting to this point in her career did not come without challenges.
“Not everyone saw the vision,” Perdomo said. “It has been a hard journey to try and get people to see it years in the making.”
The business of sports reporter gave credit to her mentor Jason Kelly, Chief Correspondent for Bloomberg Originals, for always believing in her. Kelly always would say they are building something special, according to Perdomo.
“That was what kind of kept me going,” Perdomo said.
Being a journalist who focuses on the business side of sports is different from covering the sports themselves.
The information covered varies from media rights, salaries, team ownership, brand deals and more.
Perdomo said the business aspect of things is still her biggest growth area.
Kelly was the one to tell Perdomo not to be afraid to ask questions. She now constantly reads books, asks for clarification and researches definitions.
A big support system for Perdomo is her boyfriend, Jake Maglione.
She even refers to him as her first editor because he is the first person to read her stories.
“I could talk for hours about Vanessa Perdomo,” Maglione said.
He said Perdomo is driven but never forgets her roots. She uses a Duquesne bag for a soccer league she’s involved with twice a week.
“She did everything she had to do to get where she is going,” Maglione said. “I don’t see her slowing down. I only see her getting better and more confident with what she’s doing. The world is her oyster at this point.”