12 hours of work every day and more psychological therapy

Caroline Marin is about to make his comeback a reality. The Spanish player continues rushing the final stretch of her long way to return to the courts after the very serious knee injury that occurred at the end of May. The woman from Huelva was in full preparation for the Olympic Games when his joint said enough. The ordeal began again.

Only a few days later he announced his absence from Tokyo 2020 and his time in the operating room to treat the second torn ligament he suffered in his professional career. Just when he was fighting to return to the top of the badminton world, facing the challenges of defending the gold won in Rio 2016 and to take the World championship which was celebrated in Huelvain his land, came his hardest blow in terms of sports.

Now all that has been left behind and he is preparing to return to the tracks, a fact that has been worryingly delayed in recent times. ‘Caro’ tried to return for the World Cup at his house in December, but it was not possible and it has been delayed week after week until the months of January and February were consumed. And probably also March.

As her team has announced, it is most likely that the return of the player from Huelva will take place in the European Championship What will be celebrated in Madrid at the end of April. That would be the time and place chosen by the player and her environment to return to the tracks. And for this, she has carried out an exhaustive plan that has had very important secrets to mark a recovery that they hope will be really successful.

12 hours of fighting

Carolina Marín has been complying with a tough preparation program in recent months that is putting the Andalusian to the limit. The Spanish motto has always been ‘I can because I think I can’ and she is convinced that she will be able to successfully complete this challenge of returning to the top. Her long-term goal is set on the Paris Olympics of the year 2024. She wants to hang the gold to prove to herself, and also to the world, that she was, is and will be the best. It will be the defense of the crown that I cannot do this summer.

However, he not only has his mind set on that challenge of the Games that right now remains in the very long term. Along the way he will have some tests of special interest, such as the European Championship that is held in the capital of Spain in which he has planned to make his comeback. But until that time comes, he still has many hours of work left.

Specifically, the 12 that he carries out every day. As she transmits her own closest team, they see with deep admiration the wear and dedication that the Huelva-born is wasting with a daily job that is being strenuous. But she has the challenge of arriving as prepared as possible for her return and with that desire and that illusion she fights every day.

An effort that is not only being noticed on the track, but that is branched out in the rest of the facets that the national volantista is working conscientiously. A preparation that she is playing all the sticks that she from her team consider basic to take Carolina back to number one in the world.

Within those twelve hours of work that the Andalusian is carrying out, the gym and muscle strengthening sessions that blend with the hours dedicated to the track stand out. In addition, she also frequently passes through the hands of her trusted physio to treat her body and her recovery to the millimeter and not suffer any setback that could make her stop again.

And along with physical work, Carolina has increased support therapies with her trusted psychologist in recent months. It is not new that the volantista resorts to this type of help, something that she had already added to her preparation beforehand, but it is true that in recent months, these sessions have considerably increased her importance. It has been basic to get out of the pothole.

For Carolina, after having overcome very important trances throughout the last years of her career, mental health is as important as physical. If caring for her knee has been key in recent months, it has also been vital to build a much stronger and more powerful Carolina from a psychological point of view. This is how a seamless champion is built.

The arrival of the French model

Carolina Marín is speeding up the final stretch of her recovery before returning to the slopes. This official announcement will also be made with great fanfare through an important act at the headquarters of the Higher Sports Council. However, until that moment arrives, the Andalusian is going to experience some important changes in her environment.

One of them, without a doubt the most striking, is the coexistence with the French model, the last challenge of his coach Ferdinand Rivas. Carolina and her technician started working together 14 years ago, when she came from Huelva to Madrid to be part of the High Performance Center From the capital. There began a relationship that still lasts and that promises to continue over time.

However, Rivas has ceased to be part of the team of the Spanish Badminton Federation, in which he was one of the most important people and the head of the sports field. Now, the Carolina coach has accepted an offer from France to take charge of his federation and his new project.

The Gallic country has become a true benchmark in the lower categories and now they want their model to be exported to the highest category as well. And who better to carry it out than a coach who has turned a European player into the best in the world above all Asians.

Even so, Rivas has recognized that his new project will not affect Marín’s preparation and that everything will continue its course with a perfectly structured plan: “France is a power at junior level, and we want to develop it. There are more players and coaches than in Spain , the culture is greater. The objective in the future is to achieve good results in any big event”.

“We are already making it compatible. My contract is part-time, I will do a lot of work from Spain. When I am not here, Carolina will be taken care of perfectly, everything is coordinated with the FESBA and the CSD. Carolina will not lack training, and that has been important to accept this position. The preparation will be the same.

For Fernando and for Carolina, this change will be positive for the Spanish player since her coach needed a new personal and sporting project. In addition, they will be able to export the new model that is already being put into practice successfully in the neighboring country: “What is attractive is applying a methodology that is known to work. We are around 25 people who will work together on this objective, which is six years. Hopefully with my grain of sand we can get medals”.

[Más información: Así entrena Carolina Marín para volver a ser la mejor con ayuda de la realidad virtual]

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