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In an interview with Spain's newspaper El Pais, defending Olympic badminton champion Carolina Marin revealed her love for high heels and how they make her happy.
"I have more high heels than trainers. I don't wear them, I don't have time, but I keep them in my shoe closet, I look at them and they make me happy. I love them," she said.
"When I go out I don't wear flats, I wear 10cm (4') high heels. I grow in heels. A pair of high heels give me something that badminton doesn't. Badminton is 10 hours a day, heels maybe an hour a month, but for that hour I'm a different person playing a different role."
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Having recovered from a serious injury and back training at the high performance centre in Madrid, Marin said that she is a "killer" on the court but "sensitive and emotional" off it. She also hinted that she is a very outgoing person and is "a joker" when not in the badminton world.
Speaking about her trainer Fernando Rivas, Marin said that people have told her that he can get excessive, but she admits that an Olympic gold medal would not have been possible without him.
"My parents brought me here (To the Center of high performance of the High Council of sports, Madrid) when I was 14. And they said to my coach, 'mind her'. So in the beginning he took on that fatherly role a bit, teaching me what was the best for me in terms of goals that we wanted to achieve, helping me see things that at 14 or 15 I couldn't see for myself. He tries to guide me along, maybe his demands and his control have been excessive sometimes, there are people who think so, but if he wasn't like that, then today I might not have an Olympic gold medal," she quipped.
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Also about her playing style, she said that she uses strength in attack and is a very aggressive player.
About success, Marin feels it always depends on hard work. She also revealed that she has three best friends; one whom she trains with, one in Madrid and one in Huelva. She is also single currently, blaming her tight schedule as the reason behind it.
