Badminton stars Carolina Marin and He Bingjiao were reunited after a touching gesture at the Olympics that won hearts worldwide.
Marin presented He with an award recognising the moment of friendship and respect when the Chinese athlete carried a Spanish flag onto the medal podium in honor of her injured opponent.
The two met in the women’s badminton singles semi-final that ended in tears when another horror knee injury cut short Marin’s gold medal dreams.
CGTN’s Ken Browne has the story.
Marin presented He with an award recognising the moment of friendship and respect when the Chinese athlete carried a Spanish flag onto the medal podium in honor of her injured opponent.
The two met in the women’s badminton singles semi-final that ended in tears when another horror knee injury cut short Marin’s gold medal dreams.
CGTN’s Ken Browne has the story.
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NewsTranscript
00:00The hug the world was waiting for.
00:08Carolina Marin and He Bingjiao were back together again after a sporting gesture that won hearts worldwide.
00:15The two met in the women's badminton singles semifinal in Paris,
00:19but it ended in tears when another horror knee injury cut short Marin's gold medal dreams.
00:25He eventually claimed silver, but it was what she did next that went viral,
00:30holding up the Spanish Olympic pin on the podium in a show of love and support for Carolina.
00:37We're talking about a moment on an Olympic podium when she was receiving her silver medal,
00:43and she held up the pin the entire time.
00:45It's a moment I'll remember for the rest of my life, and I'm eternally grateful.
00:50I felt a lot of love from Chinese fans and beyond.
00:53Obviously, I went to Paris aiming to win gold, but I came away with something much more valuable,
00:58the love and support of so many people.
01:02Marin presented a special award to her on Thursday night at the Roulette for Change gala in the Spanish capital
01:08for her exemplary representation of sporting values.
01:15I didn't know how I could talk to Carolina at the time,
01:18and I thought she would probably be watching the final,
01:21so I found a direct way to speak to her and show my support and respect for her,
01:25to let her know that I've always admired her, I've always been with her,
01:28I always believe she can overcome any difficulty.
01:35China's ambassador to Spain witnessed the event too
01:38and said it was a symbol of the close ties between the two countries.
01:43First, it is the demonstration of the Olympic spirit.
01:48Second, it's a demonstration of the very hard and very deep-rooted friendship between Spain and China.
01:55This kind of friendship is rooted in the hearts of the two peoples.
02:01A moment that transcended sport, giving another podium in the Spanish capital.
02:07Ken Brown, CGTN, Madrid.