Olympic champion Carolina Marín has called time on her badminton career.
The Spaniard, who won the Badminton Women’s Singles gold medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, confirmed her retirement in a post on X on Thursday.
Marin, who also won multiple World Championship and European Championship gold medals, had planned to play her last event at the 2026 European Championships in Huelva, Spain.
However, the Spaniard has now decided not to put her body ‘at risk,’ retiring earlier than initially planned.
Rafael Nadal, a 22-time major champion tennis, has sent his compatriot a heartfelt message on social media following her announcement.
Rafael Nadal’s congratulates Carolina Marín on a ‘spectacular’ career
In a post on X, Nadal offered his congratulations to Marin.
He said: “Congratulations on a spectacular career!
“Congratulations on your fight, your talent, your overcoming, and for achieving feats that seemed impossible in Spain just a few years ago.
She remains the only non-Asian player to win gold in a women’s badminton discipline at the Olympic Games.
Marin spent 58 weeks as the women’s singles world number one and won her last medal [gold] at the Saarbrücken 2024 European Championships.
Carolina Marin’s retirement announcement in full
In a post on X, Marin said: “Hello everyone. Today I want to share a message with you and I want to be direct.