South Korea quick observe champion barred from coaching with teammates

FILE PHOTO: Shim Suk-hee of South Korea in motion. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj

SEOUL–South Korea’s double Olympic quick observe gold medalist Shim Suk-hee has been excluded from coaching with the nationwide staff amid a probe into textual content messages she despatched throughout the 2018 Video games that advised she could have supposed to take down a teammate.

A web based newspaper final week revealed messages exchanged between Shim and a coach throughout the Video games through which she ridiculed her teammate Choi Min-jeong and mentioned she may attempt to create a “feminine Steven Bradbury” if issues weren’t going her approach.

Australian Bradbury gained gold within the males’s 1,000m on the 2002 Winter Olympics in any case the opposite rivals crashed on the final flip.

Within the 2018 ladies’s 1,000m remaining in Pyeongchang, Shim and Choi grew to become twisted up and fell over on the remaining nook, with Shim being disqualified and Choi ending fourth.

Yonhap information company reported on Monday that the Korea Skating Union (KSU) deliberate to analyze whether or not there had been any intent on Shim’s half.

The report mentioned the KSU had “separated” her from the nationwide staff at a coaching middle within the central metropolis of Jincheon the place they’re making ready for qualifiers for the 2022 Beijing Winter Video games.

Shim won’t be able to compete on the Worldwide Skating Union (ISU) Brief Monitor Pace Skating World Cup, which is scheduled to start in Beijing on Oct. 21 and determines quotas for the upcoming Olympics, the report mentioned.

“We’ve concluded after consulting the athletes, together with Shim herself, and coaches that it will be troublesome to coach collectively on this scenario,” a KSU official was quoted as saying.

The KSU was instantly obtainable for remark.

Shim apologized on Monday whereas Choi’s administration company has referred to as for an investigation.

“I’d wish to sincerely apologize for disappointing and hurting many individuals with my immature actions and phrases,” Shim mentioned.

Nonetheless, she denied taking down Choi on goal, saying it was “simply unlucky we crashed into one another.”

Choi’s company issued a press release urging the KSU to offer safety for her and to conduct an investigation into the crash on the Video games.

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