Carolina Marin suffers knee injury, may miss Tokyo Olympics

Carolina Marin has been literally unstoppable this year. The reigning Olympic champion stormed into the finals of all five tournaments she has taken part in this season and won four of them.

However, in a major setback to her dreams of defending the Olympic crown, Carolina Marin suffered a knee injury during training on Friday which has put her participation in the Tokyo Olympics in jeopardy. The postponed Games are scheduled to get underway in the Japanese capital on July 23.

According to Spanish publication Marca, the women’s singles champion of the Rio Games felt knee discomfort during training. As per the report, the doctors conducted a number of tests on Carolina Marin, after which they came to the conclusion that the 27-year-old shuttler had suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury on her left knee.

Despite the injury, the Spanish ace seems to be in an optimistic mood and said in a statement on social media that she was “in the best hands”.

“Today I suffered some discomfort during training that caused me to stop training. After the first tests (we had) done, the doctors realized that it was the anterior cruciate ligament of the left knee that is affected,” the world No. 4 Carolina Marin said in a statement.

“Soon I will be able to give you more information. I am in the best hands, always. Whatever happens,” Carolina Marin added.

In the Rio 2016 Olympics women’s singles final, Carolina Marin had defeated India’s PV Sindhu to win her maiden Olympic gold medal.

It is not the first time Carolina Marin has suffered an injury. The tall southpaw had earlier suffered an ACL injury to her right knee in January 2019, which kept her out of action for nearly nine months.

Carolina Marin can recover before Games if it’s just a sprain, says physio

Sports and Orthopedic Physiotherapist Dr Kevin Agrawal explained the nature of Carolina Marin’s injury.

“If she is suffering from just an ACL sprain (mild injury) and clinically she has no complaints then there is a high possibility that she might recover before the tournament and she should be able to play along with some supportive taping or by using a knee support brace,” said Dr Kevin Agrawal.

Carolina Marin

“If it’s a partial tear then it all depends on her clinical assessment. If she has any discomfort/pain/instability issues, etc then she might not be able to play in the tournament and her rehab may be extended or might have to go in for surgery. If it's a complete ACL tear and she is having instability and balance issues then she might require some pre-surgery physiotherapy rehab followed by an ACL reconstruction surgery,” reasoned Dr Kevin Agrawal, Director of Dr Kevin’s Physiotherapy and Sports Injury Clinic.