Climb up at full speed, sorry I didn't, converge on it.
Tear down the highest walls and insist on barbaric growth.
They all sang the roses, and I opened the cactus.
I am arrogant and uninhibited, and I do not know the weiqu,
Have a personality and don't shy away.
The most beautiful blow is called being loyal to yourself.
——Li Yuchun, "Savage Growth"
Born in the "desert": alone against the world
Marin's cry is not only an encouragement to himself, but also a kind of "rebellion" to the world. Since the beginning of the 21st century, Spain has hosted the 2001 World Championships in Seville, the 2006 World Championships in Madrid, and the 2016 World Youth Championships in Bilbao, but in terms of the development of badminton, it is still an almost desert land.
According to the latest data from the Spanish Badminton Association, there are 268 badminton clubs in Spain with 9345 registered athletes. In Spain, which has a population of only 46 million, at first glance, the number of 9345 is quite large, but in fact, it is not the number of professional badminton players, but the number of players participating in national badminton competitions.
In Europe, the concepts of professional and amateur are almost non-existent, and some are only professional and non-professional. As long as people who play badminton almost all register, and then participate in different levels of leagues. To put it bluntly, these 9345 athletes can be vaguely understood as all the badminton players in Spain. Among them, there are only a few professional players like Marin.
I studied in Madrid for a while, when playing badminton became a necessity and very difficult because there were no more than 10 badminton courts that could be found in All of Madrid, all of which were on the common wooden floors of the multi-purpose gymnasium. On a wooden floor, the lines of volleyball, basketball, indoor football and other sports are painted in different colors, overlapping each other, and the sense of boundaries of playing is all based on feeling. What is more difficult is that the Chinese who play together suffer from no channel to buy balls, and often ask their domestic friends to carry a few buckets of balls in the mailed package, and usually play plastic balls most of the time.
Malin grew up in such a country, although her national training center has a special badminton court, equipment and equipment are also guaranteed, but the most direct impact of the low development of badminton is the general low level, resulting in low quality of confrontation, special training is not advanced. Looking back on the experience of just going out to participate in international competitions, Marin remembers the few teams that Spain was always the least crowded, and many Asian spectators and even the staff did not know about Spain's badminton players.
The external environment that Marin faced made her have to grow stiff wings and compete with the world, and she had the feeling of facing thousands of armies and horses alone. She represents badminton in Spain and in the European women's singles after the retirement of Bauer (Rasmussen) and Schenck. Whenever I think of this, I will no longer have any dissent about her shouts, but will have more admiration.
Getting out of an injury: I didn't think I couldn't recover
The Olympic champions who grow up under such conditions have accidents, but they are not all accidental, which must be the result of the team's efforts. In addition to coach Fernando and assistant coach Anders, Marin is also equipped with physical therapists, technical researchers, sports psychologists, personal psychologists, news leaders and agents. It was the targeted and dedicated service of this powerful team that Allowed Marin to be fully released without worries, winning the three-time World Championships women's singles championship and the Rio Olympic women's singles gold medal in history, and recovering quickly after being seriously injured.
On January 29, 2019, Marin, who was fighting at the Indonesia Masters, collapsed on the field and was diagnosed with a torn cruciate ligament. This injury is very similar to the injury of Li Xuerui, Wang Lin, Wang Xin and other Chinese women's singles, but MaLin only took 7 months to complete the process of surgery, rehabilitation, recovery and return to the field.
On the 3rd day after the injury, Marin underwent surgery; on the 7th day, she began to learn to walk on crutches; on the 8th day, she began to sit on a high chair and batting training; on the 90th day, she began to fully recover from training; on the 130th day, she began to resume normal training for full running; on the 236th day, she defeated Dai Ziying in the second leg of her comeback, the China Open, to win the championship.
This series of time records is a miracle in the history of sports rehabilitation.
Behind the so-called "miracle" is the cooperation of the whole team and the hard work of Marin himself. During those days, Marin spent 12 hours a day on recovery training, including physical therapy, pool training, recovery, special knee strength training, etc., and gritted his teeth every day. Marin on the field is often anxious, but when she recovers, Marin is very patient, because the Olympic points race that has begun has given her a great sense of urgency. She confessed that she did not have time to grieve, and she never thought that she would not be able to return to the state before the injury, and she would have to fight to defend the Olympic gold medal.
Similar injuries will leave athletes with physical and psychological trauma, like Olympic champion Li Xuerui, who will subconsciously protect the injury after returning from injury and replace it with other actions. At the China Open, Marin moved as if he had not been injured, and also grabbed the championship, and everyone who saw it was surprised. In fact, it was the effort of the whole team to make her full recovery and completely overcome her fear of injury.
Photographed by Tang Poems
Momentum: Dad, I love you
Aside from the team, Marin's biggest motivation was his parents. When Marin left home for Madrid at the age of 15, her parents were reluctant and even fell into grief from missing her too much after Marin went to Madrid. Still, Marin's father told her firmly, "If you want it, go for it." "The father, who is not familiar with sports, pushes Marin at the starting point, and this starting point also becomes the source of strength for Marin's entire dream.
Marin's social platform has a lot of photos with her father, who has supported her from the beginning to the national competition, and then accompanied her abroad to compete later. In Marin's view, his father was tied to his badminton career. The unexpected death of Marin's father in the middle of last year dealt her a huge blow and for a time she was barely able to train.
After the saddest days, Marin was determined to comfort his father with the champion on the field. Marin, who lost to Hope Okuhara in the women's singles final at the Danish Open last October, smiled helplessly and stood on the podium for runners-up. Three months later, when she defeated Dai Ziying in the Thai Open women's singles final, she fell to her knees and cried bitterly, then stood up and said emotionally to the camera: "Dad, I love you." At that moment, it took her more than half a year for her emotions to be fully released.
More than a decade later, the little girl who had just arrived in Madrid had grown into an Olympic champion. Since Marin became famous, the Spaniards have recognized badminton, the government has increased its support for the sport of badminton, and the number of people who have obtained badminton licenses has increased. Walking on the street, Marlin can occasionally see children and parents playing badminton at school and in the park, and she will also receive photos from friends who see people playing on the road. For Marin, the country has changed because of himself, and he is as happy as he is to win the championship.
In a way, Marin is the Spanish version of Lindane. In Spain, Marin is synonymous with badminton. Although badminton is still not popular in Spain, Marin's love for it has not diminished. Instead, she sees this as an advantage over athletes in other countries who have more access to opportunities and team resources.
Sometimes, you will not be accustomed to Marin's "rampage" on the court, that is because she is really strong; sometimes, you will be surprised by her directness and truthfulness in interviews, but that is the blunt truth that journalists prefer; sometimes, you will feel that she is lonely, but she can always give you the domineering shock of the whole world.
Marin is like the cactus that grows in the desert with great vitality, and like the bullfighter who fights tenaciously against the world. She has been facing the sun, she has created a savage body, she is really blooming. Or, as she says, she's just the real and unbridled Carolina Marin.