Carolina Marín

Carolina María Marín Martín (born 15 June 1993) is a Spanish badminton player. She is an Olympic Champion, three-time World Champion, eight-time European Champion, and former World No. 1 in women's singles. Widely regarded as one of the greatest female badminton players in the world, her accolades include winning the Olympic gold medal in women's singles at the 2016 Rio Olympics, thereby becoming the only non-Asian female player to win a badminton gold medal at the Olympics, the World Championships in 2014, 2015, and 2018, and being ranked consistent World No. 1 for a record total of 66 weeks. Marín is the only player in history to win at least seven gold medals in a single discipline of any continental championship (individual events), having won every European Championships title since 2014, and a European Games title in 2023. Marín was appointed as the brand ambassador of football major LaLiga and Meliá Hotels International for its promotion in other countries. In 2024, Marín was awarded the Princess of Asturias Award for her contribution in Sports.

Early life

Marín was a keen flamenco dancer in her childhood. After a friend introduced her to badminton, she fell in love with the sport and decided to stop dancing and play badminton wholeheartedly. At the age of eight, she started playing badminton at the IES La Orden in Huelva. She had to leave her hometown and her family at a very young age to travel all the way to Madrid for training at the National Centre.