The curtain is falling on one of badminton’s most storied careers. Carolina Marín, the Spanish dynamo who rose from the sport’s Iberian desert to conquer the world with ferocious drives and primal roars, has announced her retirement. After a series of devastating knee injuries that would have broken lesser athletes, the three-time world champion and Olympic gold medalist decided to step away for good. In a video message, she declared bluntly: “Today I have news to share. I won’t beat around the bush: my badminton career is over.” It was a farewell as direct and unflinching as her smash on court.
Marín’s path was anything but ordinary. Born in Huelva in 1993, she grew up in a country where badminton barely registered. She picked up a racket at age 8 while tagging along with a friend and was quickly hooked
