In a gut-wrenching moment at the ongoing Paris Olympics 2024, Spanish badminton shuttler Carolina Marin had to forfeit her semi-finals against People’s Republic of China’s He Bing Jiao at the Porte de la Chapelle Arena on 4th August 2024.
The Rio 2016 Gold Medallist of the Women’s Singles event collapsed to the badminton floor in the 2nd set and tried continuing before she was forced to forfeit the game against China. She broke down and was in tears as she could not get her second gold medal in Olympics.
Carolina Marin was leading 21-14, 10-6 and there was a high possibility of her progressing to the finals of this event. But now, China’s He Bing Jiao will be qualifying to the finals.
Her coach Fernando Rivas addressed the media and said that she was in pain.
“Carolina knows that at an Olympic Games, you win or you lose. But not this way. She was in pain, it’s a sensation that she already knew. Now we have a lesson and we need to restart and try to understand what happened,” said her coach.
“It is not fair, I think Carolina deserved to finish the Olympic Games, winning or losing, but on the court,” he added.
It remains to be seen whether the Spanish heavyweight in Badminton plays her bronze medal match against Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Tunjung. Tunjung was defeated by Republic of Korea’s An Seyoung 11-21, 21-13, 21-16.
Carolina Marin was plagued by a lot of injuries
The Spanish badminton player, who had defeated India’s PV Sindhu in the 2016 Rio Olympics finals, despite being a set down, has had two major knee surgeries and a string of injuries in the past few years.
The crowd at the indoor court supported Carolina Marin and let her leave the court with a lot of pride and dignity. Irrespective of the country they belonged, they lauded the Spaniard and kept on cheering for her with claps and applauses.
He Bing Jiao of China had defeated 2-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu in the Round of 16 match on 1st August 2024, 21-19, 21-14.
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