Badminton champion Carolina Marín, Princess of Asturias Sports Award 2024, asked parents this Wednesday to ““Do not force your children to do something because they like it” and, above all, support “their children’s choice.”“, as theirs did with her.
Marín participated this Wednesday afternoon in a meeting with his followers and with Asturian athletes, not only badminton but also other sports such as handball, skating, swimming, athletics or cycling, in which nearly a thousand people gathered. people in the La Tejerona pavilion, 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 Saul Craviotto, Samu Sánchez or Ángela Pumariegaand others like 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, who at all times received the affection of those present and merged into a big hug with Craviotto when he took the stage.
Marín thanked the canoeist again for remembering her at the time of winning her sixth Olympic medal and assured that “Not everyone has the heart that this man has.“.
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 he indicated, it is something that ““It serves not only athletes but 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 Paris’s last injury.
“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 he encouraged to practice any sport, “if it is badminton, much better“.
