Winning Bronze at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Gregoria Mariska: This is a Disaster for Marin

PARIS – Badminton player Gregoria Mariska Tunjung has secured a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. She did not have to compete in the bronze medal match after Carolina Marin was injured in the semifinals.

Previously in the semifinals Gregoria suffered a defeat from An Se Young with a score of 21-13, 11-21 and 16-21. While the other semifinals, Carolina Marin from Spain had already won the first game over China’s He Bing Jiao 21-14, but she suffered an injury when the second game was running 10-8.

This situation made Marin unable to continue her match, including having to withdraw from the bronze medal match at the Paris Olympics. BWF has also confirmed this and ensured that the bronze medal goes to Gregoria.

Gregoria herself could not react much to this result because the situation she was in was not pleasant. On the one hand, she was happy to win a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, but on the other hand, there was Marin who had to bury her dream.

“Earlier I was stretching, then Marin fell, coincidentally I also had a test today, so I didn’t have time to see what the decision was, only that it was decided to retire,” said Gregoria, in a press statement from NOC Indonesia, Sunday (4/8/2024).

“I’m confused, it’s so wrong for me to be happy with other people’s suffering. This is a disaster for Marin, but I’m confused about how to react, like I don’t want this to happen. Honestly, I’m really grateful for the medal, but I’m not happy about it,” he continued.

With this, Gregoria ensured that Indonesia would win its first medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. However, the bronze medal awarding will take place tomorrow, Monday, August 5, 2024, after the women’s singles final ends.

This is the first medal for Indonesian women’s singles after Maria Kristin Yulianti last won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In addition, this is also a sweet record for women’s singles who have never failed to bring home a medal after qualifying for the semifinals.

(sto)