New Delhi [India], March 26 (ANI): Rio 2016 Olympic badminton gold medallist Carolina Marin on Thursday introduced her retirement on the age of 32 from skilled badminton, bringing the curtain down on a exceptional profession.
Marin shared the news via a social media video, confirming she’s going to skip the upcoming European Championships in her hometown, Huelva. The 32-year-old acquired a wild-card entry for the European Badminton Championships 2026, set for 6-12 April in Huelva.
‘My journey ends right here. Thank you all, since you, too, have been a part of it. In this new journey, I’ll carry with me the values which have accompanied me till now, and I’ll attempt to give again to society the whole lot it has given me throughout this time. It has been a beautiful journey,’ Carolina Marin wrote in an X submit.
‘I needed us to see one another one final time on court docket, however I do not need to put my physique in danger for that,’ stated Marin. ‘I’ve stated it many occasions, and I stand by my choice. I needed my profession to finish otherwise, however in life, issues do not all the time occur as we wish, and we have now to just accept that.’
European Badminton Championships 2026 was set to mark her comeback, since struggling a knee damage in the course of the semi-final spherical of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 greater than a yr and a half in the past.
‘Deep down, I did retire on a court docket — in Paris 2024 — we simply did not understand it on the time,’ Marin stated in her farewell video.
‘I needed the journey to finish in Huelva, and it’ll. Not with a racket in my hand, however within the metropolis the place I used to be born, to shut a circle spanning a few years,’ she defined.
‘I will likely be there to present again all of the power you’ve got given me over all this time and to expertise an unforgettable week, as a result of that lady who found badminton and needed to win the whole lot is now blissful and returning dwelling. I go away with my ardour feeling very happy with the whole lot I’ve achieved — greater than the titles, for having earned the respect of the sporting world each on and off the court docket, and for serving to badminton to be recognised, seen, and performed in my nation. I could not ask for something extra,’ she concluded.
She suffered her first main damage in 2019, and in May 2021, simply two months earlier than the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, she tore the cruciate ligament and meniscus in her left knee. Three years later, on the Paris 2024 Games, she sustained a 3rd rupture, from which she has but to get better.
Marin leaves behind a rare legacy, together with an Olympic gold medal, three World Championship titles, and a number of European crowns. (ANI)