Gregoria Mariska's Reaction To The 2024 Paris Olympics Bronze: Grateful But Don't Want To Be Too Happy

Indonesian women's singles badminton player, Gregoria Mariska (red jersey). (X @INABadminton)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian women's singles badminton player, Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, admitted that he was grateful to be able to win a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. However, he emphasized that he did not want to be too happy considering the situation behind the acquisition this time.

BWF has finally announced that Gregoria Mariska Tunjung will certainly win a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics without having to compete. This happened after Carolina Marin was declared retired in the semifinals on Sunday, August 4 against He Bingjiao.

Having taken the lead in the first game against He Bingjiao, Marin then gave up in the second game when the score was 10-8 because of an injury in his knee. This situation forced Marin to resign and automatically could not appear in the third place on Monday, August 5.

After BWF confirmed that the bronze medal belonged to Gregoria, the women's singles clearly did not expect to get the award without going through the match. But behind that, Gregoria is also concerned about the situation experienced by Carolina Marin.

"Obviously this is not the way to get the medal I want, sad to also see (Carolina) Marin in such conditions, injured," said Gregoria Mariska in an official statement quoted on Sunday, August 4.

"I'm grateful to be able to get a bronze medal, but I don't have to feel too happy or how because as an athlete, I know our struggles are all very difficult, let alone facing an injury," he continued.

Regarding the injury suffered by Marin, Gregoria is also concerned. But on the other hand, he feels that this achievement can be a reflection and a race for other athletes to compete better.

"I know all athletes are preparing for the Olympics very seriously and work hard, so it's definitely not an easy thing for him to deal with this."

"Hopefully this medal can spur other friends to compete healthy, maximum and win. I help pray so that I can get a medal for Indonesia," he concluded.