badminton queen Carolina Marín She is known for her extreme concentration.
The Olympic champion in Rio 2016, world champion three times and six times in the European Championship still wants more.
Two nightmares in the form of knee injuries would be enough for most people to drop everything and give up, but Marin has used adversity to motivate himself more than ever.
First the 2020 Tokyo Olympics was the light at the end of the tunnel for her, but when this Olympic dream was dashed by the second of the injuries, she immediately set her sights and mind on paris 2024.
Marín will be 31 years old when the next Olympic Games start and explains in this interview how she has learned to listen more to her body.
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27 – 30 Oct
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“Sometimes your body tells you enough” – Carolina Marín
The goal of the Olympic champion is to fight back to give her best, but the setbacks have been significant.
In 2019, Carolina was riding high as reigning Olympic, World and European champion, when she suffered a first ACL injury to her right knee in the Indonesian Masters final in January 2019.
The recovery was hard and during the process he needed two psychologists, in addition to ten hours of rehabilitation every day.
When he was getting back into rhythm and feeling good for the Tokyo Olympics, he suffered another blow. He tore his anterior cruciate ligament and both menisci in his left knee.
“I tore the anterior cruciate ligament in my right knee, but in my left knee I tore the anterior cruciate ligament and two menisci, so the rehabilitation was very different,” Marin explains to Olympics.com.
“I was so frustrated because I wanted to put more pressure on myself to try to recover as soon as possible. But sometimes your body stops you. Maybe because of how passionate my character is, I wanted to speed up the rehabilitation.”
“It was very, very difficult because, as I say, sometimes I want to push my body more, but suddenly your body tells you that you have to stop or that you have to take it easy, and sometimes mentally it’s really difficult,” continues the Spaniard.
However, Marin has taken this frustration and turned it into motivation.
Results for Carolina Marin
Back on the circuit, Marin’s results looked promising after winning the European Championship in Madrid in the spring of 2022, but he has seen plenty of ups and downs since then.
These are the results of the Huelva player so far in the 2022 season:
- European Champion in Madrid
- Indonesia Open (Super-1000) – Round of 16
- Malaysia Open (Super-750) – Round of 16
- 2022 Badminton World Cup – Quarter Finals
- Japan Open (Super-750) – Quarterfinals
- Canada Open (Super-100) – Semifinals
- Denmark Open (Super-750): Round of 16
Carolina Marín: the fighter
“I’m lucky that I can play again,” says Marin after the severe injuries he has suffered.
The blows have not only been physical, but to this entire process with the injuries, Marín had to add the loss of his father in July 2020.
The light of the Spanish went out after that: she was more distracted than before, her maximum concentration was no longer so… and then, unable to defend the Olympic gold medal she won in Rio, she suffered deeply again.
Chen Yufei of the People’s Republic of China won gold in Tokyo, but Carolina Marin says she didn’t watch much of the Games: “I couldn’t watch too many matches because of the time difference and I wanted to keep my focus on my rehabilitation.”
The lack of spectators due to the Covid-19 pandemic also affected the Spanish star.
“I told my people that if I had to miss an Olympics, it had to be in Tokyo. Because, when I played the final in Rio, it was like… I really can’t describe the feeling. When you play a final with so many spectators cheering you on from many parts of the world…” recalls Marin.
“But when you see an Olympic Games without spectators… the players feel very bad, so if I miss one of the four, of course it will be Tokyo.”
“We’re lucky to be able to have spectators again. It’s very, very good for all the players. So I think we should all be happy.”
“Paris 2024 is on my mind every day”
The 2024 Paris Olympics remain firmly in Carolina Marín’s sights.
“The first thing I thought when I broke my knee last year was that I wanted to be ready again because I had a good feeling for the Tokyo Olympics, but suddenly I had this injury.”
“Then three days after I broke my knee, what I had in mind is that I want to win another Olympic Games. If it’s not Tokyo, then it should be Paris.”
“So this is what’s on my mind every day during my rehab.”
