Marquez’s photo
The image of the right arm in training, published by Marc Marquez in a post on Instagram, revealed what the Spanish rider has been avoiding talking about for months: namely the real conditions in which he races after 7 surgeries.
And the newspaper El Periodico, in a nice interview by Emilio Perez de Rozas, tried to get to the bottom of the matter, interviewing Samuel Antuña, the surgeon who in recent years has followed the ordeal of the nine-time world champion.
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The injury in Indonesia that ruined everything
Antuña explained that when Marquez won the 2025 world championship he had the right arm weakened compared to normal functioning, but he did not have particular pains. The bad fall triggered by a high-speed rear-end collision by Marco Bezzecchi forced the Spaniard to start all over again. The acromioclavicular dislocation took four months for complete healing, but a bone fragment – previously used to stabilize the shoulder – dislocated and dynamically compressed the radial nerve.
Yes, Marquez races with “one and a half arms”
With the nerve operation, the condition of Marquez’s right arm improved, compatible with the overall picture. Antuña’s words leave no doubt: “When an imbalance like Marc’s occurs, with numerous surgeries in that area, the muscles are seriously compressed and do not work like those of the left arm. Everyone has noticed by now, he has a strong back muscle but mechanically altered and his biggest problem is the loss of strength in the bicep”.
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This has generated an imbalance between the right and left arm: “Before the Indonesia accident everything was well balanced. Not perfect, but well balanced. After Mandalika it became unbalanced: Marc struggles to play padel and that says it all. If it had been Alcaraz, he would have had to retire from professional tennis”.
Antuña tried to describe Marquez’s situation: “Quantifying precisely the strength of Marc’s arm… That arm is very limited in terms of strength, especially the bicep. I believe the expression ‘Marc races with one and a half arms’ accurately describes the current condition of his right arm”.
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Will the condition improve?
Not all is lost, although according to the surgeon from Oviedo the path will not be short: “There is room for improvement, it is evolving. The last surgery was three months ago and the bicep will continue to improve, but not as quickly as when he was 22 years old. However, we cannot know what his maximum will be, clearly it will never be the same as before the injuries”.
Antuña then concluded: “What he has had would have forced many others to retire. With all the surgeries on the shoulder and humerus, we had to release and reposition the muscles during the procedures. These changes cause a slight displacement of the muscle, in the axis and its mechanics. Marc has not lost any muscle, but they are not perfect: they are a bit atrophied and altered and for this reason he does not have the same strength as the left arm”.
