Korean Olympic Skaters Face Controversy For Alleged Unsportmanlike Conduct
South Korean speed skaters Kim Bo Reum and Park Ji Woo are under fire for putting down their teammate Noh Seon Young.
During the quarterfinals of the Ladies 500m Team Pursuit event, Noh Seon Young could be seen lagging behind at the end of the race.
Because the Team Pursuit event records time based on the last person to finish, the South Korean team finished 7th place and did not qualify for the semifinals.
Immediately after the race, Noh Seon Young burst into tears on the bench. Neither Kim Bo Reum or Park Ji Woo went to console her, only their coach Bob de Jong.
After the race, Kim Bo Reum spoke to KBS and called out Noh Seon Young for ruining their chances at medaling, even throwing in a smirk.
“We started out well and continued doing well in the middle, but at the end… well… the last skater (Noh Seon Young) was too far away from us and we had a disappointing time.” — Kim Bo Reum
Park Ji Woo also commented negatively about her teammate, as if she was calling out Noh Seon Young for not being driven enough.
“It seemed to be a problem with communication, but I didn’t think Noh Seon Young would be like this… Bo Reum and I were greedy for the record. Honestly, I didn’t know there was a gap between us. It wasn’t like this at the World Cup.” — Park Ji Woo
To make matters worse, Noh Seon Young stated in a previous interview that as of January 25, the trio had not practiced together for the team pursuit once since the World Cup on December 10, 2017.
In her first interview after the disappointing result, Noh Seon Young commented on the team atmosphere, saying it was not very good to begin with.
“We trained in different places and we didn’t have many opportunities to meet up. The atmosphere within our team wasn’t very good. We didn’t talk much. Not even about the matches.” — Noh Seon Young
Over 440,000 Koreans have signed the petition to have Kim Bo Reum and Park Ji Woo removed from the Korean National Team for their insensitive comments towards a teammate.
Kim Bo Reum is receiving most of the hate due to her attitude towards Noh Seon Young.
- “Right, just f**k off now.”
- “She needs to give up her rights of being a skater and athlete.”
- “It’s embarrassing to even call her an athlete at this point.”
- “This is the first time ever that I didn’t want a Korean to win a gold medal.”
Meanwhile, EXO-Ls are also furious with Park Ji Woo, as she revealed herself to be a hardcore EXO fan herself right when the Olympics started, promising to support them during their closing ceremony performance.
“Wow I received so much support today 🙈 I will cheer EXO on at the closing ceremony just as much as I’ve received the support. 👍 #weareone #exo #pyeongchang2018” — Park Ji Woo
Many EXO-Ls left comments of disapproval on her Instagram before she put it on private.
- “You should be ashamed of yourself.”
- “No matter where you go, don’t call yourself an EXO fan.”
- “I’m disappointed in you.”
- “Why does EXO have a fan like you?”
Park Bo Reum recently held a press conference where she broke into tears, apologizing for not being more mindful of the team.
“Our goal was to come in 3rd place and in order to do that we had to make it to the next round. I was greedy and focused too hard on coming in on time that I didn’t know that [Noh Seon Young] had fallen behind. In that sense, it was my fault for not leading the team well when I was in the front.” — Kim Bo Reum
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