Friday 29th January 2021
Not only coaches have to be arrested
Judgment after the death of an abused female athlete
South Korean triathlete Choi Suk Hyeon committed suicide at the age of 22. Now her coach and her team captain have been sentenced to long prison terms. According to the verdict, her abuse was partly responsible for the death of the young athlete.
The South Korean triathlon trainer Kim Gyu-bong has been sentenced to seven years in prison for abusing an athlete. The affected athlete Choi Suk Hyeon took her own life in June 2020. The physical and verbal abuse caused Choi to "make a fatal decision at the age of 22," the Daegu District Court ruled.
Choi's team captain Jang Yun-jung was sentenced to four years in prison and her teammate Kim Do-hwan was sentenced to 18 months suspended sentence. "The defendants abused their power and verbally and physically attacked Choi for a long time," the court explained, according to the Yonhap news agency. A week ago, Choi's former physiotherapist was sentenced to eight years in prison.
Choi was considered to be one of the greatest triathlon talents after third place at the Asian Juniors Games in 2015, but in 2019 she was only 14th at the national championships. In an audio recording that the news channel YTN then broadcast, her coach expressed anger about that she had gained weight. "You are not allowed to eat for three days", said Kim: "You promised me that you would take responsibility. Grit your teeth." Then the sound of a sharp slap could be heard.
The triathlon team was "an empire for the coach and selected athletes," said a former team member to journalists in Seoul when the case became known. Physical and verbal abuse were common, she was quoted by the South Korean broadcaster KBS as saying.
Such cases are increasing in South Korean sports. Just last week, a short track trainer was sentenced to ten and a half years in prison for physical and verbal abuse. In 2019, several international speed skaters accused their trainers of sexual abuse. The association, so the athletes, hushed this up.
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