Women’s singles at the moment is considered to be the most competitive and most interesting by experts. Defending Olympic champion Carolina Marin needs to be a 100% for every match to stay ahead of her opponents.

Marin is currently undergoing high intensity physical training in the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Spain (peak height of 3479 m above sea level). High altitude training is common among elite endurance athletes and has proven to enhance athletic performance.

Marin, training in Sierra Nevada

The Rio Olympics gold medalist recently spoke of the strict life of an athlete in an online conference organized by Alfonso X El Sabio University.

“High-level sport is very demanding. I would love to go out for ice cream with friends, but most of the time I say no. In high-level sport many things are sacrificed, so you have to be very clear,” said Marin as quoted by Sport.es.

Marin also spoke of her daily routine. She wakes up at 8. Then she eats breakfast and hits the gym at 9. She is there in the gym till 10:15. She then practices on the court from 10:30 until 12:30.

Her next session starts at 4 but she is there on the court warming up 15 minutes before. A technical session on the court till 5:30 is then followed by a 90-min physical training session. The last session is from 7 pm to 9 pm – a conditioning and relaxation session with her physiotherapist.

Merely following such a training regimen is not enough to become a world and Olympic champion. There are many other factors involved. One of the secret ingredients is competitive drive. Netflix’s recent hit ‘The Last Dance’ highlights how competitive Michael Jordan is. To Jordan, drinking water is even a competition.

Marin is no less.

“I am competitive even while playing Parcheesi (also known as Ludo). My grandmother sometimes let me win because I once got so angry when I lost that I stopped talking to her,” the 3-time world champion revealed.

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