The final American left in the badminton competition at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games has exited the tournament.
Las Vegas native, Beiwen Zhang, lost her round of 16 matchup with the gold medalist from Rio 2016, Carolina Marin (ESP), who missed Tokyo after she tore her ACL and both menisci in her left knee.
Zheng dominated the first set over the heavily favored Marin en route to a 21-12 win. At one point she scored seven straight points and had her opponent on the ropes.
However, the former Olympic champion battled back and was even more dominant in the second set. She scored nine straight points at one time and cruised to a very easy 21-12 win.
Zheng held leads early in the third, but Marin took control around the middle of the game and never relented, taking the match with a 21-18 win in game three.
With the win, Zheng would have become the first American individual to ever reach the quarterfinals in badminton at an Olympic Games. She nearly did it in Tokyo, but was forced to retire from her round of 16 match after she tore her Achilles.
At age 34, Zheng herself has said this is likely the last event of her career.
Marin moves on to the quarterfinals where she will face Japan’s Aya Ohori.
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