When Carolina Marín received the news that she had been awarded the 2024 Princess of Asturias Sports Award, she was training at the Madrid High Performance Center. She didn’t even know she was among the candidates this year. The words were not coming out of her and she could barely say “Thank you” to whomever she communicated it to on the phone. Her emotion got the better of her and she burst into tears. As soon as she hung up, her first call was to her mother, who had been telling her for years that she deserved it. It’s not a mother’s love, that too, but ‘Caro’s’ resume, as her entourage calls her, is unique. She is the first and only non-Asian player to become Olympic champion (Rio 2016), the only one in the world to win three World Cups and there are also eight consecutive European titles to her credit. Since 2014, she has no rival on the Old Continent. The next call was to Fernando Rivas, her coach for 16 years. “Fernando, they have given me the Princess of Asturias!” She told him. “They didn’t give it to you, you earned it,” her technician replied. And I couldn’t agree more with that phrase and that nuance. It is a well-deserved award. Sometimes it seems difficult to recognize the merits of the athletes from this country who have carried the Spain brand around the world as a synonym for success. Marín is only the third Spaniard to receive it after Arancha Sánchez Vicario (1998) and Teresa Perales (2021). In fact, in 37 years only 8 women in total have won it, few seem to me and not a question of quota but of more than ample and demonstrated merits. Luckily, this is changing and of the last four editions, three of the winners are women. I have the feeling that many times in Spain we value those from abroad more than our own and I’m not just talking about sport. What Carolina has achieved is within the reach of only a select few. In Asia she is a true icon. In Indonesia she often has to take a taxi to go to the pavilion even though it is next to her hotel. 60% of her IG followers come from India, Indonesia and Malaysia. From now on, in Spain she is also a Princess.
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2024-05-13 08:39:53
#Carolina #deserve #Brand
