More bad news for Honda’s Marc Marquez. After suffering a concussion 10 days ago that caused him to miss last weekend’s Portimão round, Marquez was tested by a doctor to see if he could participate in this weekend’s Valencia MotoGP finale. The doctor (see quote below) has diagnosed Marquez with diplopia (double vision) related to “paralysis of the fourth right [cranial] nerve”. Medical doctors refer to this as “fourth cranial nerve palsy”, which you can read about here. As indicated in his doctor’s quote below, Marquez has damaged the same nerve he damaged back in 2011 as a result of a Moto2 crash that also resulted in double vision.
Immediately below is the HRC press release with the doctor’s statement, followed by a post on Marc Marquez’ Twitter:
From the Repsol Honda Team:
The Repsol Honda Team rider will not participate in the Valencia Grand Prix this coming weekend, nor in the IRTA Jerez Test scheduled for November 18 and 19.
After Marc Marquez underwent a medical examination at the Dexeus Clinic in Barcelona last Tuesday, in which he was evaluated after a fall while practicing off-road, the rider has been resting all week at his home in Cervera.
During these days of rest, Marc has continued to feel unwell and has suffered from vision problems, which is why this Monday he was visited by the ophthalmologist Dr. Sánchez Dalmau at the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, who examined him and performed the tests, which detected a new episode of diplopia.
Doctor Sánchez Dalmau
Ophthalmologist
“The examination carried out on Marc Marquez today after the accident that occurred has confirmed that the rider has diplopia and has revealed a paralysis of the fourth right nerve with involvement of the right superior oblique muscle. A conservative treatment with periodic updates has been chosen to follow with the clinical evolution. This fourth right nerve is the one that was already injured in 2011.”
From Marc Marquez via Twitter:
“These are hard moments, it seems that when it rains, it pours. After visiting Dr. Sánchez Dalmau, a new episode of diplopia (double vision) was confirmed like 2011. We need patience but if I have learned one thing it’s to face adversity with positivity. Thanks for your support!”
I hope he heals up and gets back to the track. While I understand why some would reason he should call it quits, I personally can’t imagine doing so myself if I had that kind of talent. I take more risk than I should on dirt bikes and mountain bikes, and I genuinely have nothing to gain outside of the euphoria of the moment. Nobody’s ever going to pay me for my efforts.
While he may have nothing left to prove, I don’t think Marquez shows up to prove anything anyway. The guy shows up to win the race. Period. I don’t believe he thinks much about the record books or the championship even. He is there at that time for that race. And while one could argue that everyone on the grid is throwing the kitchen sink to try to win it, Marquez seems somehow to approach the challenge in a more extreme way than everyone else and genuinely seems to want it more than the next guy.
I don’t think Marc (or any of these guys really) is wired to play it safe. He wouldn’t be the force of nature he is on the track otherwise. All we can do is wish him the best on his recovery and hope that his career ends by choice rather than injury or impairment.
If you had that kind of talent, you’d have that kind of training. You’d have that kind of pressure. You’d have that kind of ambition. You’d have that kind of focus. You’d have that kind of resilience. You’d have that kind of experience. You’d have those kinds of scars. You’d have that kind of wisdom. You’d have that kind of perspective. You’d have that kind of context. You’d have those kinds of trophies. You’d have that kind of recognition. You’d have that kind of life. You’d have that kind of pain. You’d have that kind of evolution. You’d have that kind of awareness.
Dude … are you okay?
… and you’d have those flaws.
Totally Dirk. It’s crazy to think about what must go on in his head with all of that experience. Such an extreme example of nurture vs. nature.
I often think about people with hidden talent that goes completely unnoticed and untapped over the course of life.
We all have hidden potential that we’ll never nurture because it’s never discovered.
I find it fascinating that some are lucky enough to discover that potential and then elevate it through determination and perseverance – and that lucky, lucky few to take it to the very top.
When they reach the top, does it alter their perspective? Slightly? Radically? It’s all so interesting to me.
I’m crazy about this kid, an utter marvel, but my gosh SOMEBODY has got to get it through to him that despite his other-worldly talent, he’s got to consider his future, with or without racing, when it comes to all these crashes. These are slight guys taking a beating from get-offs at speed (or doing his flying off motocross bikes) that even NFL athletes don’t face.
I’ve always worried about his 10-foot-tall-and-bulletproof approach to riding . . . and crashing, and man do I hope he gets better and takes better care of himself.
MM is a machine. He’ll win at least one more championship.
This is the “slight head concussion” Honda was telling us about, eh?
I’m sure they were trying to minimize it until they couldn’t. But recall he had and recovered from the same injury years ago. It’s possible it only took a slight concussion to re-injure it.
I’ve never liked MM at all. He is the sort of racer that makes racing less fun.
But he is a human being. He was just recovering from a long injury and now he has suffered another.
Get well soon.
The retirement comments always bother me. Like Rossi, his retirement date is his business and his alone. If I could have retired at his age, I would have. My wife? Not so much.
Agree with you on the retirement issue Mick.
But you sure seem very well informed about MotoGP and it’s participants for a guy who lost interest in the sport when they switched to 4-strokes.
“He is the sort of racer that makes racing less fun.”
He is an artist that has enriched the sport – and the fun for us watching it – immensely.
You are a sack of coal.
Marc’s courage, determination, and will is truly something to behold. Yes, he could retire. Yes, he has nothing else to prove. But its this boundless heart for what he does, his belief in himself and pushing past boundaries that makes what he does a once- in- a- generation racing legend! My hope is he retires only when other things inline become more important ( i.e.-family) and not due to lasting injury.
Amen, brother. And I didn’t like the guy for a lonnnng time.
This is sad news. I’m not a MM93 fan, but I greatly admire him and hope he recovers fully.
That being said, I think there is more to the story than the press release covers. If he crashed so hard as to ring his bell and sustain this injury, nothing about it sounds mild. At all.
As an armchair expert, it really does feel like his best days are behind him. The new breed are just so fast and competitive – they’re hungry and ambitious in a way that I can’t imagine a multi-time world champ to be any longer. The setbacks over this year have felt (again, to me) like a rushed return driven by something else. Desperation to return to the top step? When I think about scenarios in which others have been pushed from the pinnacle and try to return, it seems like this is a common story.
It will be interesting to see what he decides about the future. I hope he returns to full fitness so his decisions are based on freewill and not circumstance.
I don’t believe any of us here have ever raced at the top level so our conservative reasoning doesn’t apply. If he heals he races again. Period. Remember how long it took for him to come back to racing after he broke his arm? Most of us would have used more sense and sat it out, but not Marc. You’ll see him next season, riding and winning until the next crash…
Squidliness happens at all levels. MM has skill that few of us can dream of, but the principal of riding within your limits applies to everyone.
I think at that level, if you always ride within your limits, you never push the envelope out further. I believe part of being an elite athlete is not being content with limits. The passage of time eventually forces one to recognize when their fight is over. Until that time, though, these guys will always be attempting to reset the bar.
How do you find out what your personal limits are? Do your limits increase as the technology of frame, tires, suspension and brakes also increases? Don’t your limits change according to factors beyond your control? (example weather?)
You do not become a multi-time champion by not finding out exactly what your limits are every time you go out. Riding within your perceived limits will get you beaten by someone who has just figured out his limits are higher than he thought.
You train. The weather, the particular machine… Those are things that have a bearing on how fast someone is going to be on a particular day. On race day, of course they are going to try to keep it on the ragged edge of their “limit” that they discovered through the course of the race weekend so as not to crash. They won’t always succeed simply because the margin of error is so thin. Yet they can’t dial it down because that’s the difference between a podium finish and P11.
But that isn’t what I’m referring to. I’m talking about the physical and mental limits of the rider. Those are things that every rider works on continuously. That’s why Fabio saw a shrink. That’s why Marquez was on an MX bike. Inevitably, as one pushes to expand those limits, fails happen and are often part of the learning process. But you have to drill, drill, drill and take the chance and push until you can finally do routinely what was previously out of your reach.
I went to Indy in 2015 hoping to get Rossi’s autograph. (those of us there that weekend know what it was like trying to get near his pit box) I ended up with Marc’s autograph when I handed him my pit pass and a Sharpie as he was walking to the RV from the pits. He signed it on the move and handed it back to me. I wished him good luck. He won the race that day. He made me a fan that day.
Head injuries are cumulative and risk with each one is more dire. That and eye injuries that could lead to permanent long term damage is too high a price to pay. He should recover but the next hit is too risky. I say take the 6 premiere championships and enjoy life.
The older you get, the longer and harder it is to heal. This is a big uphill battle for Marc now that he’s older as his body is going to take longer.
And with it being a previous injury of nerve paralysis, that’s a pretty big deal.
I feel so bad for him.
If Marc has a group of trusted advisors, now is the time for them to speak up and have a honest discussion about life. I respect his racing skills, but don’t want to see anyone pay a long-term price.
You’ve made your mark Marc, let it be and enjoy your legacy from a distance. Doohan retired with significant impairment, learn well from others who paid too high a price.
I’m with Joe B on this one.
Marc, get out while the getting’s good. You have all the money in the world. You have nothing left to prove. You’re the best rider of your generation, and leave it at that. Otherwise, at this point, all you’re doing is chasing numbers. Even if you surpass Valentino’s total, some kid none of us has ever heard of is going to come along and surpass your numbers. It doesn’t really matter.
Go enjoy life. Sate your competitive needs some safer way. You’ll figure it out.
Bottom line, walk away, while you still can.
Clearly you know nothing about what makes a World Champion tick.
Clearly you know nothing about what I know and don’t know. Just as clearly, you know nothing about my personal experiences and how they inform my perspectives in matters such as these.
I for a long time was not a fan of MM. He was just really maturing and had won me over when all this adversity suddenly hit. I earnestly hope he gets this fixed up and can enjoy being a GOAT at the height of his powers and wisdom.
Geez this is too bad. Been a tough year and a half for Marc. I hope he spends the off season recovering to 100% and comes back strong next year.
I hope someone convinces MM93 to just put aside racing. With all the damage to his body, his previous eye surgeries, his arms popping out of socket, no doubt he is a Tuff Guy. Everyone, well lets just say a lot of people, seems have started to hate him, when he raced with and beat Rossi, and later when he dominated, saying how boring the races were. I did no loose respect when Stoner quit. Maybe its time, for Mark to quit racing, its a decision he has to make.
I know, all the racers, just want the doctors to patch them up, so they can continue. They are all driven. I like MM93, it seems no one can ride the Honda like he can. I thought it would be like an old shoe when Lorenzo came on board, but NO. Both Yamaha and Ducati have fantastic bikes, Ducati seems to have “found something”, that makes their bike turn, and they are fast. I would be one of the few, that could see if MM93 retires, its not because he is weak.
Excellent post joe b. I hope he recovers to race again but only if he is fully fit.
You forgot to mention he’s addicted. He’ll race as long as he can win, or believes he can win.
This guy is tough as nails, and keeps a good attitude through adversity. Sports figures usually don’t make great role models, but Marc’s example of hard work, tenacity, and cheerfulness is well worth emulated. I hope he heals fully and quickly.
His eyes are bothering him…he can’t see losing another race this year!
Pretty funny Bill C…. not.
I hope he recovers from this type of injury like he did last time. Hopefully, this won’t be career ending because 2022 will be much more fun if he races against the upstarts.
So true! I predict more binning and less winning if he returns.
“after visiting dr sanchez dalmau and his twin brother, a new episode of diplopia was confirmed…”
Now that’s funny right there, that is.
Yes. Too bad it’s so way down here.