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How tiny the difference between greatness and being a footnote. If damage to a tiny nerve had not healed in 2011, Marc Márquez might be a rarely mentioned one-time 125 cc class world champ today instead of a rider with the potential of GOAT status.
Now, Márquez is facing that threat to his career again.
News dropped this morning that the eight-time world champion will miss the final round of the 2021 season at Valencia this Sunday and, perhaps even more important in the long term, will miss the subsequent test at Jerez two weeks later. That test is when teams start learning about their 2022 equipment. This is after missing this past weekend's race in Portugal. After suffering a concussion while riding off-road, Márquez has had a recurrence of the diplopia, or double vision, that threatened his riding career a decade ago.
"The examination carried out on Marc Márquez 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," said Dr. Bernardo Sánchez Dalmau. "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."
The muscle is one of several that attaches to the eye, allowing it to move. Specifically, the superior oblique muscle allows you to move your eye to look downward and out to the side.
Perhaps the nerve damage will clear up, as it did before. But the setback comes just as Márquez appeared to be approaching his old self, winning three races this season after missing all of 2020 with his severe arm injury and subsequent complications.
Márquez could still be back and dominant in 2022, but it's far from a sure thing. The difference between glory on the track and watching the race at home on the sofa can be as tiny as a nerve.
