Explainer | Winter Olympics: Why South Korea is still riled by ‘injustice’ of short-track speedskating loss, what they’re doing about it
- Country’s skaters Lee June-seo and Hwang Dae-heon were disqualified in semi-finals of 1,000m race
- China’s Ren Ziwei and Li Wenlong went on to take gold and silver after benefiting from the decisions
The battle for medals in short-track speedskating might be over on the ice in Beijing, but a row is still brewing over one of the most contentious disciplines at the Winter Olympics.
One of many flash points during the Games came during the men’s 1,000m competition. Skaters fell in every quarter-final race, and not one finished without an athlete being penalised and eliminated.
For the South Koreans, it was devastating. Both of their medal hopefuls, Lee June-seo and Hwang Dae-heon, the world record and Olympic record holder, were penalised and disqualified in the semi-finals.
The wipeout came at a surprise, and now the country has filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to try to “make formal the injustice of the race’s outcome”.
