The Spanish badminton player Carolina Marín received the 2024 Princess of Asturias Sports Award this Friday during a ceremony held at the Campoamor Theater in Oviedo, for being “an example of improvement” and, in the words of Mrs. Leonor de Borbón y Ortiz , also for his “attitude in the face of adversity and triumph.”
Thus, the Princess of Asturias Foundation awarded this award to Marín “for being the best player in the history of badminton in Spain and one of the best in the world”, in a sport “in which she is an international reference” and also “a example of improvement, source of inspiration and transmitter of values on and off the track.”
Toñi Martín, mother of Carolina Marín, cried excitedly while the 31-year-old player from Huelva smilingly received a diploma that already joins a record of three world champion titles (2014, 2015 and 2018), seven European champion titles (2014 , 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2024), a gold at the European Games in Krakow 2023 and, above all, a gold at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro 2016.
Ana Isabel Fernández Álvarez, president of the Princess of Asturias Foundation, started the round of speeches and referred to the youngest: “Our commitment is to help this generation in this transition, in their desire to know, to perceive the reality within the diversity, so that they can face their challenges and assume their responsibilities.”
“This is our objective, to recognize the intellectual and humanistic legacy of brilliant personalities, to recognize the principles of cooperation and solidarity, of work for the common good and that are personified in the work of our awardees, with the aspiration that they be encouragement and that contribute to generating thought and progress for present and future generations,” Fernández Álvarez stressed.
HRH the Princess of Asturias, Mrs. Leonor de Borbón y Ortiz, said of Marín that “he has won everything and in everything he has been an example.” “The most important thing is not that his years of effort, training and great performance have taken him to the top in a sport that was very little known in Spain. The most relevant thing is that courage is not only in the medals, even gold, but it is the attitude in the face of adversity and triumph that defines a great athlete,” he added.
“She says that ‘I can because I think I can.’ And I assure you that, for those of us who are about to leave adolescence, they are very valuable words. If we are here it is because what our award winners project is health, it is necessary to overcome discouragement and hopelessness,” added Doña Leonor in reference to Marín.
Then came the speech of HM the King, Don Felipe VI: “With each edition this ceremony is a faithful reflection of the objective of the Foundation, of its will, of our will to recognize those people and institutions whose work has the capacity to bring progress and hope to so many lives and communities.”
Then he congratulated Marín and the other winners this year: “Your names will also go brilliantly into our collective memory. Greatness is measured by the positive impact you have on society and your works are there to prove it. Thank you for sharing your passion and commitment with all of us. If we had to choose a common denominator among you, a synthesis of all your merits, or even the first and last reason for your works, we would condense it into a single idea or concept: the person.
“You all tell us, more explicitly or more subtly, about some of the facets that make this necessarily multifaceted concept shine. The person through love, beauty, dedication, commitment, compassion, the search for the limits of knowledge or the defense of freedoms. You put us in front of, in short, what makes us great and helps us to fulfill ourselves,” indicated the King.
“DEHUMANIZATION IS A LATENT RISK”
“In this globalized world, of great magnitude and opportunities, among unimaginable technological advances, dehumanization is a latent risk. You, the winners, remind us with your example that, at the center of any speech, any action or decision, whether in the economic, social, political, artistic or sporting field, there must always continue to be, and inescapably, the person. History alerts us to the serious consequences of deviating from that path, just as it alerts us to the serious risks of polarization, of the denial of others for their convictions or beliefs, because they think, pray or vote differently,” argued Felipe VI.
“But we also see it in closer and everyday settings, in any inequality, prejudice or injustice, or in any discourse conditioned by fear or based on indifference or radicality. “It is therefore the obligation of the institutions, but also of civil society, of citizens, to fight against everything that separates, even one iota, from that comprehensive respect that we owe to the person, to any person, to dignity.” the King pointed out.
Later he advocated “fighting against everything that separates us from the will and commitment to continue building societies capable of living together, of dialogue, of working for the common good.” “Defending the dignity of the person also means protecting and promoting the regime of rights and freedoms that guarantees it and that underpins our democracy,” he insisted on this matter.
“And in the external sphere it implies strengthening the architecture of the treaties and institutions that support the international community. Multilateralism and cooperation are undoubtedly our best tools to face the global challenges of our time. Ladies and gentlemen, this incessant fight for the dignity of others is ultimately the greatest support of ours,” concluded Felipe VI.
