He Spanish sport It is full of athletes who have made history in their respective competitions. Almost all of them are not only the best in their profession, but they are example of sacrifice and perseverance for many children and young people, who aspire to reach the same level. However, the life of the athlete—like life itself—is not, precisely, a path of roses; To reach the top, in many cases, it is necessary to be willing to give up many habits which ordinary people would not be willing to part with. The bad luckgenerally in the form of injuries, is a very present variable in the professional and personal lives of athletes, which can disrupt the future plans of elite athletes.
Carolina Marínborn in Huelva, is part of the hall of fame of Spanish athletes throughout history. Among many of her titles, the Huelva native has the milestone of being the first and only Olympic champion in badminton (Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games), in addition to three world championships y seven European championships. The last trophy in his extensive record was won in the European Championship in 2024, held in Saarbrücken (Germany).
For all these titles earned and for his “extraordinary record in badminton”the jury of the Princess of Asturias Sports Awards 2024 They decided, last May, to award Carolina Marín the 2024 Princess of Asturias Award, in the field of sport. Furthermore, the jury minutes added that Marín is “an example of improvement, source of inspiration and transmitter of values, on and off the track.”
The Andalusian began her wanderings in the sport of racket when a classmate, at the age of 8, invited him to play badminton. Since then, he fell in love with this sport, without knowing that he would become one of the best athletes in the history of Spain and one of the best badminton players in the world.
Carolina Marín has not had a quiet life, as far as injuries. Unfortunately for the trajectory of her career, the Huelva native has suffered several times, and in both knees, one of the worst injuries that any athlete can suffer: anterior cruciate ligament rupture. In 2019, during the Indonesia Masters final, he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. Two years later, in May 2021, suffered a new injury: rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament and both menisci of the left knee, which did not allow him to compete in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
His last injury occurred in Paris 2024 Olympic Gameswith another tear of the anterior cruciate ligament of the right knee. Her withdrawal from the women’s singles semifinal made the spectators’ hair stand on end, as they heard Carolina’s screams of pain.
However, his hardest setback occurred on a personal level, with the death of his father. In 2020, his father, Gonzalo Marín, suffered a serious work accidentfor which he could not recover from the consequences and ended up dying. In an interview with ReliefCarolina remembered these hard moments in which she had to decide whether to operate on her fatherand also had to make the difficult decision that his father should stop suffering.
Carolina Marín published several snapshots on social networks in which she expressed her love for Gen Esteban San Millánathlete assigned to the Real Sociedad athletics team, which he referred to as “my Valentine”. However, in the month of May, during his visit to The Resistancewhen answering the famous questions of David Broncanosaid there was “had a crisis… Then, there is the bad thing”. Since then, San Millán has not appeared on the Huelva native’s social networks again.
