written on the banner next to “Match Race,” it would help to make the female athlete’s participation in this sport visible to readers. In others, journalists do not include the gender of the sports discipline with almost any sport.

5.2. Carolina Marín’s and her coach’s sporting and news reign

The space given to women’s badminton is more significant than that given to other sports in Marca in the 2016 Olympic Games because of the high expectations for Marín to win gold, even those sports in which a precious metal is won are not given much space. Referring to Carolina Marín as a “champion,” “two-time champion,” or as a “double world champion” or “top favorite to win gold” is a constant in the texts that Marca publishes about her sports performance. Marín’s status in her sport is reflected in the headlines in the information after each match: “Carolina is number one. The world champion’s display against the Korean Sung to reach semi-finals” (17/08/p. 13); “Carolina strokes the gold” (19/08 p. 9).

The sportswoman appears in medium shots. She gesticulates in her characteristic and rehearsed gestures: her arm raised and her fist energetically closed while crying out in rage. This is how she celebrates each point; she wants her opponents to visualise that she is giving it her all. Marca presents Marín to its readers in the images published of her. This position at the “starting line” of the competition as a favourite means that even before Carolina Marín’s debut in Rio, Marca dedicates 5 full columns on page 12, two photographs and refers to her in the headline as the champion (“The champion’s secrets”), and in “The two-time world champion begins her path towards the triple crown today” (11/08 p. 12) in the headlines referring to the quarter-finals.

Nevertheless, Marín’s coach, Fernando Rivas, is in the spotlight, as he is the one who is credited with “having made a world super champion with his methods” in that first text on 11 August in the newspaper. The key to Carolina’s success lies in innovation: “a lot of work and the continuous search for new formulas. Fernando Rivas has his badminton R&D department in a way; his formula has become a world reference” (11/08 p. 12).

The report begins by referring to him: “Each time Fernando Rivas says to Carolina: ‘I have an idea. Let’s try it out’, the Huelva native trembles” Rivas’ original methods are revealed throughout the report. The only thing that is said about Marín in the text and summary is that she has cried in some training sessions because it had been so hard. It is only in the quarter-finals when the sportswoman is praised by her coach: “Carolina does not have natural talent. Rather she has been forged through work. She is a champion because of her winning mentality, which makes her different”. A strength that the journalist Almudena Rivera again refers to on 20 August once Marín has already won gold: “A beautiful mind” (Headline); “Motivation. Carolina works on her mental strength” (subheadline). Her most important quality stands out in the texts that Marca publishes about her: her work ethic to achieve what she has set out to do: win the Olympic gold. “I can because I think I can” is her motto.

The gold that Marín is expected to win is not just another medal for her or Spain: it would mean that the Spanish player would win the triple “crown” in badminton, as European, world, and Olympic champion. It would also be a historic medal for Spain by being the first Olympic medal in Spanish badminton but, in particular, for being the first to be won