Gijón, Oct 23 (EFE).- Badminton champion Carolina Marín, Princess of Asturias Sports Award 2024, asked parents this Wednesday “not to force their children to do something because they like it” and, above all, that they support “their children’s choice” as theirs did with her.
Marín participated this afternoon in a meeting with his followers and with Asturian athletes, not only badminton, but also other sports such as handball, skating, swimming, athletics and cycling, in which nearly a thousand people gathered in the pavilion. from La Tejerona, which is the Gijón epicenter for the practice of badminton.
Numerous Olympians were also present at the event, some of them also gold medalists such as Saúl Craviotto, Samu Sánchez or Ángela Pumariega, and others such as Rocío Ríos, Berta García Suárez Laso or Jorge Llames.
“For any athlete, winning gold in the Olympic Games is the great dream of their life and for me it came even earlier than expected because the ones I was preparing for were those in Tokyo,” said Marín.
The winner of the 2024 Princess of Asturias Sports Award recalled that the motto ‘I can because I think I can’ was repeated many times “in the Rio Olympic final when I was losing” and, as she indicated, it is something that “serves not only to athletes but to anyone”.
“When you have obstacles in your way you have to pull yourself together and I have already had to do it twice,” said Marín, remembering the last injury in the Paris games.
“At first life seemed very unfair to me, but then I am left with the fact that I got a medal that I never thought of getting: the love of all of you.”
Carolina Marín said she felt “reflected in the smile and enthusiasm” of the children present, whom she encouraged to practice any sport, “if it is badminton, much better.” EFE
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