Fans' double standards on 2 gymnasts
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Son Yeon-jae
Son draws fire from sports fans; Yang remains unhurt
By Kang Hyun-kyung
The contrasting fates of two sports stars — Son Yeon-jae and Yang Hak-seon — following their attendance at an event to showcase “neulpum” gymnastics raises a question.
Do fans apply double standards when judging sports stars?
Neulpum is a gymnastics-for-all initiative proposed by Cha Eun-taek, an embattled business partner of Choi Soon-sil who rocked the nation when her control of overall state affairs through her ties with President Park Geun-hye was exposed. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism gave Cha the green light to push for the dubious project by funding 350 million won($300,000). The sports ministry came under fire for the waste of taxpayer money.
Rhythmic gymnast Son Yeon-jae has drawn the ire of sports fans after her appearance in the event in November 2014 received belated media attention in the fallout of the Choi scandal. Her social media is flooded with criticisms and scathing remarks from Internet users.
Yang Hak-seon
Olympic gold medalist Yang Hak-seon attended the sports ministry-led event, too. However, he remains safe from attacks from sports fans.
“A sense of unfairness seems to have played out behind the sports fans’ different reactions to the two gymnasts,” a former national team athlete said, asking not to be named. “As an athlete, I felt it was unfair whenever seeing that Son was at the center of the media spotlight during the Olympics or other international sporting events. Her accomplishments there are not something remarkable compared to other sports stars, but for some reason she always steals the show.”
She said sports fans may also share such feelings toward the rhythmic gymnast.
Son, an Asian Games gold medalist, won no medals from her two Olympic appearances in London in 2012 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016. She is one of a few sports stars who dominate TV commercials. Some analysts say Son’s contribution to sports history in Korea shouldn’t be judged by whether she won an Olympic medal or not. Son is a trailblazer in rhythmic gymnastics here in that she is the first Korean athlete to compete for Olympic medals, they said.
Meanwhile, Yang rose to stardom after winning a gold medal in men’s vault during the 2012 London Olympics. He is the first Korean gymnast to win an Olympic gold medal.
The media frenzy followed his dramatic rise from a boy born to an impoverished family in a shantytown in the southwestern city of Gwangju, to a hero through the Olympics. His parents lived in a makeshift converted greenhouse constructed from PVC pipes until he won his gold medal.
In a media interview, Yang said he worked hard to win the Olympic gold medal because he wanted to build a nice home for his poor parents. His dream came true. LG Chairman Koo Bon-moo donated 500 million won ($450,000) to a housing project for Yang’s parents.
The two sports stars faced different reactions from sports fans in the wake of the Choi Soon-sil scandal.
In the internet forum DC Inside, there’s a forum set aside for messages for Son. Thousands of Internet users posted messages criticizing or discrediting her.
Internet users and bloggers labeled Son a pro-government sports star who joined the sports ministry’s propaganda project and demanded the rhythmic gymnast explain whether she was there to curry favor with the sports ministry. They alleged that Son received perks from the government in return for her appearance at the showcase event for neulpum gymnastics. Son has also won awards presented by the Korea Olympic Committee for three consecutive years since 2013. Athletes, who have made remarkable contributions to sports are honored by the KOC every year. Son was a runner-up twice and finally won the grand prize this year.
Considering previous winners, her critics say Son doesn’t deserve such a title.
Internet users remain suspicious of the KOC’s selection of Son for the prize for three consecutive years because previous winners were Olympic gold medalists or world championships. Her winning the KOC awards three consecutive times stood in stark contrast with Olympic gold medalist Kim Yu-na who was not decorated by the KOC until last year. On Wednesday, Kim was chosen as a hall of famer and became the youngest athlete to win the recognition.
Son’s Instagram was flooded with allegations, scathing messages and demands from social media users to answer if she has ties with Choi. Their suspicion comes because Son is a client of the Chaum clinic which has become part of the controversy for having provided prescription drugs to President Park Geun-hye through a third party.