The Korean Skating Union’s vice chairman Jeon Myung-gyu resigned on Monday amid an investigation into why top short track skater Viktor Ahn decided to give up his citizenship and compete for Russia at the recent Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Ahn, formerly known as Ahn Hyun-soo in Korea, won three gold medals and a bronze for his adopted country, while the South Korean men finished without a single medal for the first time since short track skating became an Olympic event in 1992.
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Ahn won three golds and a bronze for Korea in Turin, Italy in 2006, but fell out of favor from national team selection due to injuries. The KSU allegedly dismissed Ahn’s return even when he recovered from his injury, and the factional infighting and favoritism by the coaching staff and skaters convinced Ahn that the only way he could compete at the Olympics again was to become a citizen elsewhere.
The Korean public was infuriated as Ahn went on to become the most accomplished short track skater in the Olympics history while its own program was left in a disarray. Many Koreans, including the commentators who called the races on live television, even supported Ahn as they felt he was forced to leave the country to prolong his career. President Park Geun-hye ordered an investigation into the KSU to ensure that there were no systematic wrongdoings against Ahn.
But a KSU official insisted that Jeon’s resignation was purely due to the disappointing results at Sochi.
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“His resignation today has nothing to do with the allegation (that he is behind the factional infighting). He took the responsibility for the disappointing performance of the Korean team in Sochi,” the official toldReuters.
South Korea — which will host the next Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang in 2018 — has topped the medal count in short track skating for both men and women for the past six Olympics until the men finished without a medal while the women won two golds, a silver and two bronze medals.
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