Badminton player Carolina Marín feels closer every day to returning to the courts after a serious injury of almost six months and on a road full of sacrifice in which he came to see “everything very black.”
In an interview with Efe, ensures that, after confirming his injury last May and staying Outside of the Tokyo Games, he had to set a clear goal for himself not to sink more “than he already was”, confesses.
“Suddenly, a bad gesture in one of the training sessions and I saw it all very black. It took me several days but in the end I always try to get something good out of it., something positive about all this, “says the three-time world champion and gold medalist in Rio 2016.
For Marín and his team, the Paris Games in 2024 have been the main objective ever since.
At the end of May, in one of his best professional moments, he suffered a tear of the anterior cruciate ligament and both menisci of the left knee that left him out of the circuit.
This is his second major injury after tearing the cruciate ligament in his right knee. during the 2019 Indonesian Masters.
“It is true that this recovery has cost me much more than the other (…) I was very well mentally, very motivated and confident, enjoying badminton, “he highlights.
Now, almost six months later, his feelings are “pretty good.” and he is gaining confidence every day after a very difficult period.
“These last two years have been very hard for me: Injury, family loss (his father passed away in July 2020) and another injury. Continually very, very hard changes. Blows that life gives you … but you have to know how to adapt, “he says.
A mental toughness that tests athletes and recently had in Naomi Osaka, world tennis star, one of its most bitter faces.
The Japanese highlighted the problem of mental health in elite sport after announcing her temporary retirement after battling depression for nearly three years.
“It is, without a doubt, the toughest face of the sport”, which “has always been there” and it is convenient to normalize, says Marín.
“You only see it when you get on the podium, be it to hang a silver, gold or bronze medal, but there are many things behind (…) Very few people, not even my family “really know all the effort and the road to success, he says.
For this, since he was 15 years old, Marín has had psychological support. “A very important help. You don’t need it because you’re crazy or because you’re bad, but because you’re fine but you want to feel better. “
With this I can work “aspects of anxiety, fear, control my emotions, on the track,… but there is always something that escapes me or something that I have to remember “.
The Spanish still does not rule out recovering in time to play the World Badminton Championship to be held in his hometown, Huelva, from December 12 to 19.
“I will arrive I will arrive, because I will be on or off the track,” he jokes, while considering it “a dream” bring the tournament to his land and in a pavilion that bears his name.
“There is a word that I even have tattooed on my body, which is the word resilience, which is to adapt to changes (…) starting with the change of choosing badminton instead of flamenco at the age of 8 “, he highlights.
At 28 years old, Carolina Marín has fulfilled many dreams since its inception, aware of having become a sports legend and an icon of his country.
“Today it surprises me. There are many children playing with a badminton racket and shuttlecock. It is to make me very proud. A very great joy “, he concludes.
