By Nam Hyun-woo
Korea's short track speed skater Choi Min-jeong was disqualified from her women's 500m final for interfering with other skaters. Here is a recap of the moment of disqualification.
Who did Choi touch?
After Koreans who filled Gangneung Ice Arena were silenced by referees and judges' penalty call nullifying Choi's second-place finish, the first possible occasion suggested by commentators was the sprint around the last corner.
At the last corner, Kim tried to overtake Arianna Fontana of Italy who was leading the race. At that moment, Choi's right hand appeared to be in action to push away Fontana and that could be seen as illegal contact, said Chun Lee-kyung, a four-time Olympic champion in the sport and an SBS commentator.
"Video footage shows Choi pushing Fontana, as Choi tries excessively to overtake Fontana," Chun said.
However, Korea's short track head coach Kim Sun-tae later said he was officially informed Choi had touched the knee of Canada's Kim Boutin with two laps remaining and that was regarded as impeding, which refers to pushing, blocking, tripping or other actions that hamper other skaters.
What stirs Koreans is why that moment only was factored in though there were apparently three contacts between Choi and Boutin.
Choi made her start at second place, but soon fell to third as close contact with Boutin squeezed her out.
With two laps to go, Choi tried to move into the in-course in the first corner, but Fontana used her right arm first to push away Choi cutting in. In the second corner, Choi continued her approach from outside, but placed her right arm on Fontana's knee and Fontana again used her arm to fend off Choi.
During this process, Choi managed to regain the second-place position, while Fontana collided with the U.K.'s Elise Christie and lagged far behind in last place. Christie then made contact with the Netherlands' Yara van Kerkhof and collapsed.
After being disqualified, Choi also seemed unaware of which contact was illegal, but said she would accept the referees' decision because there could be a reason to disqualify her depending on which angle the referees watched the race.
"I prepared my best and I thought even though the result did not come out well, I raced in a competition I will not regret. But I feel sorry for Korean fans," Choi said.
Cyberbullies again
While Choi accepting the calls of the judges from the International Skating Union (ISU), Korea's internet trolls target Boutin, who couldn't hide her joy of winning an unexpected medal.
After winning the bronze, Boutin said: "Just before I left the ice Marianne (St. Gelais of Canada) told me, ‘You stay here.' So maybe she knew that something's going to happen. I didn't know because when I'm racing, I don't remember my race. So I'm like, ‘What happened? Where am I?'"
After the remark, her Instagram and Twitter accounts were dominated by verbal abuse, including death threats in both Korean and English. The trolls claimed Choi was penalized because of her and she "shamelessly" says she doesn't remember the race.
"Retire and I hope you have a hard life," one of the posts read.
According to Canadian broadcaster CBC, Boutin's father, Pierre Boutin, was told the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canadian Olympic Committee and Speed Skating Canada are handling this case.
Boutin will be back on the track Saturday for the 1,500m race.
Korea's short track speed skater Choi Min-jeong was disqualified from her women's 500m final for interfering with other skaters. Here is a recap of the moment of disqualification.
Who did Choi touch?
After Koreans who filled Gangneung Ice Arena were silenced by referees and judges' penalty call nullifying Choi's second-place finish, the first possible occasion suggested by commentators was the sprint around the last corner.
At the last corner, Kim tried to overtake Arianna Fontana of Italy who was leading the race. At that moment, Choi's right hand appeared to be in action to push away Fontana and that could be seen as illegal contact, said Chun Lee-kyung, a four-time Olympic champion in the sport and an SBS commentator.
"Video footage shows Choi pushing Fontana, as Choi tries excessively to overtake Fontana," Chun said.
 |
| Korea's Choi Min-jeong, right, attempts to overtake Arianna Fontana of Italy near the finish during their PyeongChang Olympics women's 500m short track speed skating final at Gangneung Ice Arena, Tuesday. / Yonhap |
However, Korea's short track head coach Kim Sun-tae later said he was officially informed Choi had touched the knee of Canada's Kim Boutin with two laps remaining and that was regarded as impeding, which refers to pushing, blocking, tripping or other actions that hamper other skaters.
What stirs Koreans is why that moment only was factored in though there were apparently three contacts between Choi and Boutin.
Choi made her start at second place, but soon fell to third as close contact with Boutin squeezed her out.
With two laps to go, Choi tried to move into the in-course in the first corner, but Fontana used her right arm first to push away Choi cutting in. In the second corner, Choi continued her approach from outside, but placed her right arm on Fontana's knee and Fontana again used her arm to fend off Choi.
 |
| Korea's Choi Min-jeong, center, tries to cut in between Arianna Fontana of Italy, left, and Canada's Kim Boutin, during their PyeongChang Olympics women's 500m short track speed skating final at Gangneung Ice Arena, Tuesday. Choi's action in this scene was judged as impeding and she was disqualified from the race. / Yonhap |
During this process, Choi managed to regain the second-place position, while Fontana collided with the U.K.'s Elise Christie and lagged far behind in last place. Christie then made contact with the Netherlands' Yara van Kerkhof and collapsed.
After being disqualified, Choi also seemed unaware of which contact was illegal, but said she would accept the referees' decision because there could be a reason to disqualify her depending on which angle the referees watched the race.
"I prepared my best and I thought even though the result did not come out well, I raced in a competition I will not regret. But I feel sorry for Korean fans," Choi said.
Cyberbullies again
While Choi accepting the calls of the judges from the International Skating Union (ISU), Korea's internet trolls target Boutin, who couldn't hide her joy of winning an unexpected medal.
After winning the bronze, Boutin said: "Just before I left the ice Marianne (St. Gelais of Canada) told me, ‘You stay here.' So maybe she knew that something's going to happen. I didn't know because when I'm racing, I don't remember my race. So I'm like, ‘What happened? Where am I?'"
After the remark, her Instagram and Twitter accounts were dominated by verbal abuse, including death threats in both Korean and English. The trolls claimed Choi was penalized because of her and she "shamelessly" says she doesn't remember the race.
"Retire and I hope you have a hard life," one of the posts read.
According to Canadian broadcaster CBC, Boutin's father, Pierre Boutin, was told the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canadian Olympic Committee and Speed Skating Canada are handling this case.
Boutin will be back on the track Saturday for the 1,500m race.
