“Hurts Us a Lot”: Pau Gasol Bids Farewell to Spanish Champ as Injury Forces Early Olympics Retirement

A Spaniard to Spaniard, Pau Gasol extended a sympathetic message to a fellow countrywoman after an unexpected injury crushed her dreams of gold. The update comes from the most recent badminton match-up in the women’s singles category. During her semi-final match against China’s He Bing Jiao, Carolina Marín suffered a knee injury, giving a walkover win to Jiao. However, it’s not as if the Spaniard did not try her best to stay in the game.

The knee braces did not prove to be much help with the excruciating pain. And eventually, Marin had to give Jiao a walk-over, while her eyes filled with tears. Considering she tried her best, she truly deserves all the support, which Pau Gasol delivered without fail.

Taking to his official X account, Gasol extended love and support to Marin in a heartfelt message. “It hurts us a lot to see you retire due to an injury, but you have shown us to be a true CHAMPION. We love you, @CarolinaMarin! I’m sure we’ll see you smiling again soon. Always by your side…” the 2x NBA champ wrote in the post. Notably, the 31-year-old badminton star, who won Gold in Rio in 2016, could not play in the Tokyo Olympics as well because of her knee injury.

As per the reports, Marin suffered from anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries on both her knees in the past. However, she was the 2016 Olympic gold medalist in the women’s singles category. Meanwhile, her opponent in the semi-finals, Jiao, was the defending champion. But Marin had odds in her favor until the moment of injury. While she had already won the first game 21-14, she was leading in the second as well by 10-5. It seems unlikely that the 31-year-old will even return for her bronze medal game.

It was only recently that things started to fall into place for Marin after suffering from serious knee injuries for multiple years. Prior to the 2024 Olympics run, not only did she win at the 2024 European Badminton Championship but also the 2024 All England Open. Motivated by her recent victories, a replication of her 2016 Olympic run seemed to be a possibility for her.

Marin had stated winning the gold at the 2024 Olympics as her “biggest wish“

“I don’t know what percentage I’m [performing] at… What I do know is I will be at 100 percent for the Olympic Games, this I have no doubt about. Today my knee is perfect, and it’s been a long time since I felt any discomfort,” she said in an interview with Olympics.com.

Further, in the interview, the Spaniard detailed how she worked a lot on the mental part, which helped her regain her belief in herself, and boost up confidence for good training. “My biggest wish is to win gold at the Olympic Games Paris 2024,” she added. The journey, the words, and the failure against the fate of destiny are enough to make a grown person cry. No wonder that Pau Gasol poured out his feelings in his post on X.

He Bing Jiao will face the world no. 1. An Se Young of South Korea in the Gold medal match on Sunday.

Stay tuned for more such updates. Join us for the exciting pilot episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and SEC All-Freshman Team Selection, Silas Demary Jr.