China's He Bingjiao holds the 'Spain' pin during her medal ceremony in a heartwarming tribute to injured Carolina Marin

In a heartwarming gesture, Chinese shuttler He Bingjiao, paid tribute to her Spanish counterpart Carolina Marin. Marin had to withdraw from her women's singles semifinals match against Bingjiao at the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympics on August 4 due to a knee injury.

Bingjiao showed support to Marin after her silver medal triumph in Paris on August 5. As the Chinese shuttler stood on the podium, she held the ‘Team Spain’ pin in her hand. The awe-inspiring moment was captured and would have surely brought a much-needed smile to Marin's face.

Marin won the first set 21-14 and was leading 10-6 in the second set, before she pulled out. In a rather lucky breakthrough for the Chinese shuttler, the game was automatically awarded to her. With that, Bingjiao advanced into the gold medal match.

However, the Chinese athlete lost the finals 13-21, 16-21 to South Korea's An Se Young thus finishing with a silver medal.

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An unexpected heartbreak for Carolina Marin at Paris Olympics 2024

When Carolina Marin realized that her Paris 2024 Olympics dream was crashing down, she burst into tears. During the semifinals of the women’s singles event, Marine injured her right knee, and fell on to the court in immense pain.

The injury happened midway through the second game. Marin landed awkwardly on her right foot when she jumped on her backhand side to retrieve the shuttle.

With the help of her medical staff, the 31-year-old put on a knee brace and tried to continue. However, such was the pain that she could only go on for another two points. The 2016 Rio Olympics gold medalist wept inconsolably as her campaign in Paris ended.

Carolina Marin also had to withdraw from the bronze medal match. Her would-be opponent for the match, Indonesia's Gregoria Tunjung, won the bronze medal by default.

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