By Yoon Chul
Staff Reporter
Rumors that Vancouver Olympics two time gold medalists Lee Jung-su and Kim Seoung-il were not allowed to compete in the World Championships on the orders of someone in the Korea Skating Union (KSU) have been confirmed as true.
The Korea Olympic Council (KOC) announced Thursday that the reason Lee and Kim didn't appear in the individual events at the World Championships held from March 19 to 21 in Sophia, Bulgaria was because their coach Jun Jae-mok refused to let them compete.
The KOC have questioned Lee and Kim, head coach Kim Ki-hoon and coach Jun from March 30. And the documents the KSU submitted including the papers it insisted were written by Kim and Lee were found to have been written under duress.
In the world championships Kim and Lee only skated in the relay events. Instead, Jun sent Kwak Yoon-gy, who he has trained for a long time, to contest for the individual medals following an agreement made at the 2009-10 season national member selection competition, held last year.
The agreement made by some coaches including Jun before the last selection event ― the 3,000-meter super final ― to cooperate on who would make the squad as well as who should take the medals at international events.
As Kwak skated without strong medal contenders Kim and Lee, he took home one gold and two silver medals in the individual events, as Jun hoped.
After the world championships, the father of Ahn Hyun-soo, who won three gold medals at the Turin Olympics in 2006, revealed that Lee's absence was forced, and not voluntary.
Following Ahn's father's claims, the KSU made documents public in which Kim and Lee had written that they didn't want to appear in the individual events, but it has been revealed that the pair were forced to write them.
The KSU had wanted to keep the facts veiled but the KOC has insisted on getting to the bottom of the case.
The KOC has ordered the KSU to thoroughly investigate everyone involved in the team-rigging, as well as to review footage of the 2009-10 national member selection races.
It also ordered KSU to make the process for selecting national members transparent.
During the investigation Lee mentioned that some high ranked officials in the KSU, who have the power to select the players and coaches for the national team, might have given Jun the order because putting pressure on skaters not to compete in the individual events couldn't come from one coach.
The KOC hasn't found any evidence of their involvement but has ordered the KSU to conclude its investigation within a month.