The agony of Marc Marquez - “like a hammer hitting you…”

The Repsol Honda star came throu🐷gh a career-threatening arm surgery last summer and showed rays of lights at the back end of 2022, to suggest.
A documentary releas🎉ed ahead of this season showed Marquez’s personal turmoil and his painstakinꦇg comeback.
“Sacrifice is a good word to describ✅e the situation,” he🍌 said.
“If you want somethinꦯg, you must say no to many things.
“I was living💙 in my hometown but I moved to Madrid because the physios and doctors were here.
“I said no to my friends a🥀nd family. I changed completely my life.
“This is for one target - to win again.
“Not just to be a ‘good’ rider.
“Last winter I was working in a good way tꦚhen, ൲at the first race, ‘bang’ another injury.”

Marquez, in the ve🌸ry first sprint race at Portimao, clattered into Miguel Oliveira, injuring them both.
He requ🅠ired sur🀅gery on a hand, and missed three rounds.
“It is like a hammer hitting you,” he said.
“But you must continue. Keep going.
“That’s what I did. I came back at Le Mans, and had a good weeken💎d.
“But with one-and-a-half 💮laps to finish th🐼e race, I crashed.
“Another hammer hitting you.
“We will have another opportunity. Each time, it is 𓆏closer and cl♓oser.”
Marquez has yet to complete a grand prix in 2023.
His problems have only worsened - at the Sachsenring, usually among his favourite circuits, he crashed five times beღfore Sunday’s race and was forced to pull out.
A wꦕeek later, he rushed a comeback to Assen but again pulled out of the gra💎nd prix, not having recovered enough.
Marquez is 19th in the MotoGP standingꦡs with his hopes of a seventh p🦩remier class championship gone for at least a year.

James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering⭕ everything from American sports, to football, to F1.