Carolina Marin, a Rio Olympic badminton champion and one of Spain’s most accomplished athletes, will miss the Tokyo Games after tearing the ACL and meniscus in her left knee, according to the World Badminton Federation.
“This is another blow that I have to deal with, but I will certainly be back,” was posted on Marin’s social media on Tuesday. “The preparation during the last two months had become very difficult for reasons beyond the team’s control, but we were excited and knew that I would be on the best shape for the Olympics. It won’t be possible.”
Marin, 27, posted last Friday that she suffered a left ACL injury in training.
In 2016, Marin became the first European woman to win an Olympic badminton title.
Marin, who wanted to become a flamenco dancer before discovering badminton, also won world titles in 2014, 2015 and 2018. She missed the 2019 Worlds due to a right ACL tear that kept her out of competition for more than seven months.
P. V. Sindhu of India took silver in Rio, then won the 2019 World title in Marin’s absence.
India, the world’s second-most populous nation, has never had an Olympic champion in a women’s event.
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Carolina Marin, Olympic badminton champion, to miss Tokyo Games originally appeared on NBCSports.com