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| Members of sports-related civic bodies hold a press conference at the National Assembly in Seoul, Monday, to call for a thorough investigation into the death of triathlete Choi Suk-hyeon, a junior bronze medalist at the 2015 Triathlon Asian Championships, who committed suicide on June 26 after claiming she had been abused by her coach, physiotherapist and teammates. Yonhap |
By Bahk Eun-ji
There are many athletes in colleges and universities here who are exposed to the same kind of violence that led Choi Sook-hyun to take her own life after her allegations of abuse at the hands of her coach, teammates and physiotherapist fell on deaf ears. The young triathlete's death highlighted a brutal training culture and highly hierarchical relationship between coaches and players in the country's competitive sports.
Especially for college athletes who are about to enter professional leagues, they don't have much choice other than to accept the abusive practices of coaches and senior team members unless they are prepared to have their sports career derailed.
According to a recent survey conducted from the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK), 1,613, or 33 percent of 4,924 university athletes who responded to the survey said they have experienced physical violence. In addition, 31 percent of students said they were verbally abused, and 9.6 percent said they experienced sexual violence.
The problem is that institutional abuse in sports becomes more and more serious as it ascends to higher level institutions. In the same NHRCK survey, 13 percent of elementary school athletes said they experienced physical abuse during training, accounting for a relatively small portion. However, that rate rose to 15 percent in middle schools and 16 percent in high schools, and it jumped to 33 percent in universities, more than double that of high schools.
In general, when athletes get older, they are thought to be better able to handle such violent abuse committed by coaches and senior athletes, but the very opposite appears to be true.
In the case of university and college athletes, coaches have high authority over their careers. In Korea, it is true that in most sports except for popular ones it is important to have a network in order to advance into a professional league.
For this reason, it not easy for university sportspeople to defend themselves against abusive actions from coaches and seniors.
"What young athletes are evaluated on as they advance through sports institution levels is their performance ability, which is marked by rankings and numbers," said Yeo Jun-hyung, head of the Solidarity for Young Skaters and former coach of the national short track speed skating team.
"Under such circumstances, coaches and managers exercise absolute influence on their careers. Without fundamental improvements in the system, coaches who abuse their power will not disappear."
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