By Kim Hyun-cheol
Staff reporter
Lee Jung-su and Kwak Yoon-gy, the two Olympic medal-winning short track skaters involved in a race-rigging scandal, have been saved from the worst scenario of seeing their careers end, as after an appeal their final punishment was reduced to a one-year ban for each of them, down from three.
The Korea Skating Union (KSU) confirmed the amended action at its board meeting Wednesday, following a reexamination of the case.
Lee, 20, won two gold medals in the men's 1,000 meters and 1,500 meters at the Vancouver Winter Games, and Kwak, 21, is a silver medalist in the men's 5,000-meter relay.
"They are deeply repentant about what happened in the case, so we decided to give them a chance to develop as athletes," KSU Executive Director Park Sung-hyun was quoted as saying by The Yonhap News Agency.
The two skaters had been found guilty of fixed the results of a series of recent competitions including their national team tryout races in March.
Both Lee and Park had denied the allegation during questioning by a special committee of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Korean Olympic Committee and the KSU, saying they were not in a position to manipulate results.