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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2010 7:29:18 GMT -8
As a followup to the 3/25 post by Lori above, the Korean Olympic committee continues to investigate the allegations by Ahn's dad. Unfortunately, there appears to be truth in the allegations. The allegations against the coaches/skaters at the bottom of the page are also disheatning. There've been posts on ST boards that the US needs to copy Korea's methods and practices. I hope not. Winning medals this way is not impressive. Coach pulled skater off the ice: KOC April 09, 2010 Olympic gold medalist Lee Jung-su admitted he withdrew from the World Short-Track Speed Skating Championships last month not because of an ankle injury but because of pressure from national team coach Chun Jae-mok. During an investigation of the incident by the Korean Olympic Committee, which concluded yesterday, Lee and fellow skater Kim Sung-il of Dankook University testified that Chun told them to pull out and actually dictated their letter of withdrawal. “Due to pressure from national team coach Chun Jae-mok, we wrote the handwritten withdrawal document as Chun read out the contents,” Lee and Kim were quoted as saying by the KOC. Chun disagreed with the skaters in his own testimony to the KOC. “The athletes made the decision to pull out of the championships on their own. I merely told them what to write on that document,” stated Chun. Last month, Ahn Ki-won, the father of fellow skater Ahn Hyun-soo, charged that Lee had been deliberately left off the team for the 2010 World Short-Track Speed Skating Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, in order to give favorites of the Korea Skating Union brass a shot at winning. Lee, a two-time gold medalist at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, was initially said to have pulled out because of an ankle injury. Ahn’s charges brought the KSU under investigation by the Korean Olympic Committee, which released a statement yesterday. The KOC has ordered the Korean Skating Union to conduct a further investigation. If the second round of investigation by the KSU is found to be lacking or doesn’t proceed, criminal charges could result, the KOC said. Previously, it was believed the two KSU vice presidents had a strong influence over such matters, but according to the KOC, it’s still unclear whether the top officials of the KSU were involved or the coaches acted on their own. “Lee stated to us, he believed top officials of the KSU were involved in the decision to drop him from the World Championships but we have no conclusive evidence at this point that can support Lee’s claim,” said a KOC official. Chun may have ordered Lee and Kim to pull out in order to give skater Kwak Yoon-gy, who was trained by Chun, an opportunity to win medals at the championships, the KOC statement said. In addition, several coaches and skaters are believed to have reached a race-fixing agreement at national tryouts in late April at the National Training Center in Taeneung, northern Seoul, the KOC said. Those involved are alleged to have agreed to help each other get onto the national team, and then take turns winning medals at international tournaments which included individual championships. The KOC has ordered the KSU to further investigate the matter by reviewing the national tryout video clips and to look into ways to prevent such matters from taking place again. joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2918979
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Leigul
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US SHORT TRACK KICKS ICE!!!
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Post by Leigul on Apr 10, 2010 15:24:44 GMT -8
Apparently the Korean National Team Trials were postponed until Sept! Wonder if this has anything to do with it???
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Apr 12, 2010 21:33:11 GMT -8
The USA team and the Koreans having some fun on the bus at World Championships in Bulgaria: Korea & U.S.A Short track skaters on the bus!
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Apr 20, 2010 12:23:05 GMT -8
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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2010 20:50:25 GMT -8
Editorial from the Korean Times on April 9,
04-09-2010 19:37 Scandal Ruins Skating Fair Competition Should Remain the Spirit of Sportsmanship
Short track skating has long been a golden goose ¯ literally ¯ for Korean winter sports, as the nation used to sweep almost all of the global competitions.
Perhaps such overwhelming dominance in this particular sport ¯ in which people say joining the national squad is even harder than winning medals in world championships ¯ might be behind the latest scandal that exposed the ugly ``divvy-up" of medals among rivaling factions through framing results.
According to recently-ended investigations into the Korean Skating Union, Vancouver Olympic two-time gold medalist Lee Jung-su and Kim Seoung-il were not allowed to compete in the World Championships on the order of a national team coach, who fielded another skater from among his own disciples instead.
More surprisingly, a majority of the five winners in the domestic tryouts last April for the national squad for the 2010 Winter Games, had already been determined even before the event actually took pace.
All this was but the confirmation of the time-old rumors, or open secrets among the short track skating circles, that the choosing of national teams and even performances at international competitions were done in large part according to premeditated scenarios.
This is not just a glaring deception for fans and innocent athletes but a shameful defamation of sportsmanship itself, although it might have done little harm to competing foreigners. And it turned a collision between two Korean athletes and their subsequent elimination from the second and third spots in men's 1,500-m race in Vancouver from a genuine contest between individuals transcending nationality to excessive adherence to victory out of factional rivalry.
This fabrication of results and undue internal strife is a long-standing chronic disease. The firing of a problematic coach or two by the KSU will be like a lizard saving its life by losing its tail. Nothing less than an overhaul of the athletic organization is needed to set things right and ensure fair competition for both athletes and fans.
Some experts cite structural problems in the nation's amateur athletic circles as a whole, marked by elite sports and state supports concentrating on a handful of excellent performers, which result in factions led by famous coaches and other influential figures, athletically or politically.
The only silver lining in this scandal cloud is that the Korea Olympic Council has set about to correct these practices. The KOC plans to resume probes into the skating scandal after another elimination round to form a new national squad. We do not find much meaning in the scheduled event under these circumstances. Far more urgent is thorough probes and a shakeup of the entire KSU.
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Apr 21, 2010 21:00:32 GMT -8
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Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2010 8:48:55 GMT -8
And Tony just posted the latest, the recommendations of the investigating body. It's really pretty harsh, especially since the article also indict the whole skating program with "lost morality" and a culture of race fixing. Heavy Punishment Sought for Short Track Scandal By Kim Hyun-cheol Staff Reporter A special committee convened to investigate a race-rigging case in short track skating tournaments recommended imposing hefty penalties on those involved in the scandal, Friday, including the permanent expulsion of a former national team coach from the Korea Skating Union (KSU). After a nine-day probe, the committee, comprising of officials from three organizations including the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korean Olympic Committee, also said that two Olympic medalists, Lee Jung-su and Kwak Yoon-gy, should each be suspended for a year. ``We will urge the KSU to disqualify coach Jeon Jae-mok for good,'' the committee said in a statement. It added that other KSU officials including Kim Ki-hoon, a former national team head coach, should receive a three-year suspension from the union. Collective resignations from within the leadership of the sport's governing body now appears inevitable to take responsibility for the uproar and confusion the case brought. In the wake-up to the announcement, the KSU will call on a disciplinary committee to finalize the penalties on those involved in the scandal. Lee, a double gold medalist at the Vancouver Winter Olympics, was regarded as a victim of habitual race-fixing practices to divide up spots for major home and overseas events such as the national team qualifying tournaments. Earlier this year, he claimed Jeon forced him to pull out of this year's World Championships. Lee submitted a signed document prior to the competition that he would drop out due to an ankle injury, which turned out to be coerced later on. The probe, however, led to the conclusion that Lee as well might have connived with Kwak to receive help in the national team qualifying competitions, after members reviewed recorded footage of his race in the tournament. The committee said it was important to keep national qualifiers from getting overly competitive. ``Overall, the investigation of the case made us realize that so many athletes, as well as their parents and coaches, have turned numb to morality,'' the committee said. ``Now the KSU will work on implementing new ways to prevent irregularities from taking place.'' www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/sports/2010/04/136_64761.html
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Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2010 12:27:01 GMT -8
LOL looks like Justsayin' and I were posting at the same time. I'll delete mine.
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Apr 23, 2010 20:05:58 GMT -8
:oWOW... Lee Jung-Su and Kwak Yoon-Gy suspended for a year, and Coach Jeon for life? While there are certain advantages to this for our own team, I'm sad about this - for several reasons... I hope this won't be perceived by some as a shadow on the sport as a whole - plus I genuinely like the Korean skaters. I didn't care for Lee's remarks about Apolo at the Olympics, but overall they seem like a nice enough bunch - and I've held Kwak in high regard, as well as any others I'm relatively familiar with.
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Post by sk8er on Apr 23, 2010 20:40:55 GMT -8
Nope. This has got to HURT to get the message out. I've heard this about the Korean shorttrack program since I started following the sport. It's been rotten to the core, top to bottom and inside out. And Kim Ki Hoon getting a 3 year suspension? He's probably the most respected shorttracker in the history of the sport, at least among older skaters. There needs to be a thorough housecleaning, and regular inspections to be sure the rot is not resurfacing. The problem has been that young skaters coming up through such an abusive system have perpetuated it as they became coachs and "leaders" in the Korean Skating Union.
I don't know if this is relevant or not but it comes to my mind. When my husband was an Air Force Captain waayy back in the day most of his NCOs had served as medical techs in Vietnam. (As in The War...) They said the Viet Cong were afraid only of the South Koreans, who had a terrifying reputation for getting the job done.
I don't know....the longer I live the better the culture of Canada starts to look! They have a large pool of great skaters but I've never heard anything about dishonorable activities.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 24, 2010 6:49:07 GMT -8
Wow, Lori, you're right. I'd forgotten it was Jung-su Lee who said that Apolo didn't deserve to be on the Olympic podium.
That statement's more than a little ironic now, isn't it?
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Post by Laura (Lori) on May 5, 2010 8:06:08 GMT -8
Dayyummm... Tony Chung just posted this on FB (when you click Korean Times links, for some reason you're asked if you want to download software - I always click 'No', and I'm still able to see the articles that I'm looking for): 2 Olympic medalists banned from skating for 3 years By Kim hyun-cheol / Korean Times / May 5, 2010 Two Olympic medal-winning short track skaters involved in a race-rigging scandal are in danger of having their careers ended after the local sport-governing body imposed a three-year ban on each of them. The Korea Skating Union (KSU) suspended Lee Jung-su and Kwak Yoon-gy from all competitions until April 2013, Yonhap News Agency reported Wednesday citing a source familiar with the case. Their punishment, reportedly notified to the athletes the previous day, is heavier than recommended by a special joint committee convened last month. Read More: www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/sports/2010/05/136_65437.html+++ Tags: Short Track Speedskating The committee, comprised of members of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Korean Olympic Committee and the KSU, suggested the two national team members be banned for a year. Jeon Jae-mok, Kwak's coach, was permanently prohibited from the sport for manipulating races, as the committee originally recommended. The skaters can appeal the decision within seven days. Upon receiving this, the KSU will launch an additional investigation of the case and decide if its earlier decision should be amended within 30 days. Lee, 20, and Kwak, 21, allegedly fixed the results of a series of recent competitions including their national team tryout races in March. Lee, however, is strongly denying the charge, saying he is a victim ``of deep-rooted and wrongful practices on the local sport scene.'' In spite of the severity of the punishment, it remains to be seen if the skaters will appeal. ``This is just too harsh. It's like the KSU is forcing them to call it quits as competitive skaters. It's not fair to place that entire burden on young athletes when officials and coaches are actually much more responsible for what happened,'' an official familiar with Lee was quoted as saying. ``But it's not sure whether it will be better for them to opt for an appeal, which could drag the case on for years in the worst scenario.'' Lee was a double gold medalist in the men's 1,000 meters and 1,500 meters at the Vancouver Winter Games, and Kwak won a silver medal in the men's 5,000-meter relay.[/img]
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Post by Deleted on May 5, 2010 9:32:06 GMT -8
Wow! More severe than recommended! Wonder if the ISU and the IOC will step in and change the medal standings?
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Leigul
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US SHORT TRACK KICKS ICE!!!
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Post by Leigul on May 5, 2010 11:19:29 GMT -8
Can they do that? From the last two Competitions I assume? The World Cup and Team Worlds? In Bulgaria...and can't remember where the Team Comp was) Or would this affect Olympic standings as well...I would assume they couldn't change that!
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Post by Deleted on May 5, 2010 11:45:58 GMT -8
Yes they can! It took 10 years but the 2000 US Ladies Gymnastic Team just received their Bronze Medals following the disqualification of China for having an under-aged competitor on the Chinese team. And yes, we've heard that before--as in the 2008 Summer Olys--same country--same complaint. Bela Karolyi is very vocal about those issues within the gymnastics world.
Let's just hope if the medal standings are going to change, they do it quickly. The Korean Skating Union has found their own people at fault and handed down their decision and punishment, I would hope the ISU & IOC are paying attention and understand that any medals they hold, are tainted.
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