He Bing Jiao, the Chinese shuttler, announced her retirement from international badminton after winning the silver medal in the women’s singles event at the Paris Olympics 2024. The 27-year-old lost the gold medal match to An Se Young of South Korea in straight games, but her tribute to Carolina Marin on the podium captured the attention of the sporting world.
Notably, the Paris Olympics 2024 women’s singles campaign was quite an impressive one for He Bing Jiao, who reached the final after dropping just one game. After making it through to the knockout stage of the event with ease, she defeated two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu from India 21-19, 21-14 in the round of 16 clash.
He Bing Jiao announces retirement after silver medal at Paris
In the Olympic quarter-final, He Bing Jiao got the better of her Chinese compatriot Chen Yufei 21-16, 21-17, but the semi-final against Carolina Marin, the former Olympic gold medallist from Spain, didn’t begin quite to her liking. When the scoreline read 14-21, 8-10, her opponent Carolina Marin suffered a horrible right knee injury, withdrawing from the match, which secured her a place in the final.
The final of the women’s singles event at the Paris Olympics 2024 saw An Se Young defeat He Bing Jiao 21-13, 21-16, which turned out to be the last international match of the career of the Chinese shuttler after her retirement announcement. At the Olympic podium in Paris, she held a Spanish flag pin in her hand as a tribute to Carolina Marin while accepting her silver medal, winning the hearts and minds of badminton fans all over the world.
During her illustrious career, He Bing Jiao accumulated a win-loss record of 326-125, according to a report from the Indian Express. Apart from her recent silver medal at the Olympics, the 27-year-old also played a key role in winning multiple gold medals for China at the Sudirman Cup and Uber Cup.
She also won two bronze medals in the women’s singles event at the World Championships, which were held in 2018 and 2021.