Heartbreaking moment at Olympics: Spanish athlete seriously injured and bursts into tears amid drama (video)

Consternation, shock, pain, desolation. Spain whole cries together Carolina Marin after injuring his right knee and experiencing some heartbreaking moments, when he was on track to qualify for the final of the badminton tournament in the US Paris 2024 Games in search of his second Olympic gold.

The Parisian stadium of The Chapel went from party to tragedy in just one second: the Spanish Carolina Marin, who dominated brilliantly the second badminton semi-final against the Chinese Bing Jiao Heshe fell, twisted her right knee and had to leave the match devastated by the pain, broken by the rage of missing a final that she was already craving.

Marin He was leading on the scoreboard by 21-14 and 10-6 when the accident occurred. He ran for the steering wheel and his right leg gave out. The way he covered his face with his hands, his screams, his immobility on the ground indicated that the injury was serious.

Immediately assisted by medical services and her coach, Fernando Rivas, It took him several minutes to get help to the bench. There they put a heavy knee brace on him and he limped back onto the field.

She knelt on the pitch, put her head in her arms and cried without stopping, embraced by Rivas and the entire stadium, who gave her a standing ovation and a heavy heart.

Marin She has suffered a torn cruciate ligament in each knee during her career, the second of which prevented her from competing in Tokyo 2020.

The Paris Games They seemed to have arrived to culminate their rebellion against all the adversities that have crossed their path in recent years: serious injuries and personal blows such as the death of their father in 2020, after five hard months fighting against the consequences of a work accident.

Against all this and against the fear of losing, Marín was softening in Paris, in the La Chapelle stadium that had become a Spanish ‘bonbonniere’, supporting an exceptional player, the only non-Asian to have triumphed on the circuit, Olympic champion in 2016, three times world champion.

Until the fateful moment of her injury, the Spanish midfielder had put in a formidable physical and tactical display.

The match between the two left-handers began with long exchanges, up to 24 shots. He scared her with some unstoppable first shots, but Marín insisted on her precision game and managed to open the first gap (11-7) on the scoreboard.

With overwhelming solidity she reached 16-7 and withstood the subsequent reaction of the Chinese, who added five points in a row, her best streak. Once again with her serve, Marín managed the risks and closed the game with a shot to the baseline that surprised He.

She returned to the court like a hurricane. She hit the ball, crossed the shuttlecock and successfully let the long shots of He, the sixth seed, pass by. She began to move around the court with her head down between points, overwhelmed. With 9-3, Marín began to glimpse the final.

But time stopped with the score at 10-6, when misfortune struck on the green and purple court in Paris. The Games were over for Carolina Marín once again because of her knee. The saddest ending for a rebel who only an injury could keep out of her second Olympic final.

The gold medal match will pit He against world number one Se Young An of South Korea.

SPORTS

With EFE.