Carolina Marín It has three gold medals and one silver in the World Cups, seven European champion gold medals and the most precious metal in the world. Olympicsobtained in Rio in 2016. In Paris 2024 she was 10 points away from reaching a new final that would have given her the opportunity to become the first player, woman or man, to win two Olympic gold medals. But his knee did not understand illusions. He said enough. For the third time in his career he broke. Since then fights to return to the courts with a recovered level to grant herself a farewell worthy of one of the most prolific players of recent timesthe only one capable of putting the Asian empire, the great dominator of badminton, in check.
Accustomed to getting up after falls, with a motto that she professes wherever she goes – “I can because I think I can” – social networks have been her last stone on the road. “I have collapsed”he has confessed. It is not a capricious gesture or a strategy, but simply a necessity. Daughter of the loneliness that this individual sport requires, she announces that she will prioritize thinking about herself to seek happiness. “I’m not at my best, I want to be happy and for that I have to find happiness in many things”has communicated.
It is the latest great example of athletes becoming victims on social networks, as they were Simone Biles, Ariarne Titmus, Annemiek van Vleuten, Ana Peleteiro, Paula Badosa or the recent case of Nico Williams. All of them decided to disconnect from this digital world that has adopted ruthless forms, that does not understand hearts and feelings, and that treats any sports exponent as if they were a cyborg.
The isolation of social networks
“I have realized especially as a result of the last month that I have collapsed”hence “It is time to think about myself, to really reflect on many things. One of the decisions I am going to make is going to be to isolate myself from social networks”he explained. “Thank you all for the constant support you have given me and for the empathy. I think it’s important to sometimes show a little bit of the part we want to hide. “Society also goes through many of these situations.”he added, appealing to humanity, to compassion, before concluding with a message of gratitude: “I want to thank everyone for understanding and supporting me. I hope you have a wonderful end to the year and, above all, a wonderful start to the year.”
The 2026 European Championship in Huelva, its possible withdrawal
His biggest challenge now is mental health, which he pursues with his sights set on the competition that could put an end to his sporting career, the next European Championship that will be held in 2026 in his native Huelva.. Marín has lived with the extreme demands of high competition and permanent public exhibition. Each match, each return after an injury, was subjected to an analysis of its possibilities, commented and amplified on social networks. A whirlwind for emotions, which also suffer erosion.
The turning point for Marín came in that happy semifinal of the Paris Olympic Games, where the Huelva native was excited about returning to the top of the podium. She was the great favorite. But a new serious knee injury cut short his will. On his way appeared a new and extensive break, another demanding rehabilitation and a fatigue that transcended the physical. The emotional exhaustion made her vulnerable to digital pressure, which has ended up taking its toll.
The decision to abandon social networks is not an isolated event. More and more athletes are publicly exposing the suffering suffered as a result of digital harassmentand who consequently opt for a blackout, exhausted by the negative impact of constant exposure. Because sporting challenges no longer begin psychologically with the start of competitions, but in homes, with each awakening and new dawn. Athletes, even elite ones, champions forged under pressure, also need to be understood or appeal to silence.
“We feel and suffer”
“Many times sport has its beautiful part, you get rewards through medals, great titles… But there is another part that little is taught to young people, which are the little stones on the road. They have thrown a lot at me, and I have stood up stronger,” he expressed in an interview given to Atresmedia a little over a month ago, in which he addressed the pressure exerted by criticism that in some cases turns into harassment. “Criticism in our country is easy, and if the result of an athlete who was taken for granted does not arrive, he is criticized from the couch, but without knowing what is behind that athlete”he went deeper, demanding understanding: “To be an athlete we have to be a person, We may seem like superheroes, but we feel and suffer.”.
The silence of Carolina Marín It does not sound like withdrawal but rather reconstruction. He is aware that at 32 years old, after three serious knee injuries and fatigue due to overexposure, the possibilities of continuing to compete at the highest level are exhausted.. That is why she needs a space that allows her to return happily to the activity and give herself a farewell tribute with the racket in her hand. She wants to get away from the noise, listen to herself, leave the competition of the likes to undergo recovery without artificial deadlines or external expectations.
The player who revolutionized badminton with her intensity and character now shows that strength is also knowing how to stop. He has won everything possible on the track, but his last great achievement has not come by hitting the steering wheel, but by having understood that taking care of yourself is also vital to compete without ties. And that, sometimes, turning off the phone is the first step to getting up, as he has done so many times.
/t:r(unknown)/filters:format(jpeg)/medias/ZXlfPmROz9/image/somb1778274182120-format16by9.jpg)
