Lee Jung-su forced to pull out of championship

 

Vancouver Olympic gold medalist Lee Jung-su was forced by his coaching staff to pull out of the 2010 World Short Track Championship, an official investigation found yesterday.

 

The Korean Olympic Committee said in a statement they found evidence that the national team coach Jeon Jae-mok forced the world champion skater to drop out of the event to give a chance to Kwak Yoon-gy to win a medal in Sofia.

 

Lee and his team mate Kim Seong-il both gave testimony to the KOC that they were forced by Jeon to submit a statement that they would not participate in the competition.

 

The KOC said they also found out that there was match-fixing in last year’s home competition for choosing the 2009/2010 national squad.

 

“Some of skaters and their coaches agreed to share medals so that they could all qualify for the national team squad,” the KOC said.

 

“They also promised to help out each other in all major competitions to share ranking points. Lee, Kim and Jeon are all involved in the case.”

 

During the championship took place between March 19-21, in Sofia, Bulgaria, Lee was sidelined due to an ankle injury. His team mate Kim Seong-il also dropped out of the competition with personal reasons.

 

However, when Lee returned to home last week he said his ankle was fine, and hinted that there was some pressure from his coaching staff that made him unable to compete at the competition.

 

Also Ahn Ki-won, the father of 2006 Olympic medalist Ahn Hyun-soo, noted at his son’s fan club website that, “Lee dropped out of the event not because of injury but because of his coaching staff.”

 

As suspicions were growing, the KOC’s launched a special investigation into the case last week.

 

“We’ve given strong advice to the Korean Skating Union to scrutinize the case and to seek punishment if it is necessary,” an investigator from the KOC told The Korea Herald.

“The selection of national team squad is depends on a single event at the moment, and this create all sorts of problems. The skating union should come up with better ideas,” he added.

 

Source: The Korea Herald