South Korean Triathlon Head Coach and team captain given stern punishment
The high-profile suicide case of South Korean triathlete Choi Suk-hyeon that exposed the country’s win-at-all-cost culture concluded on Friday when the Daegu District Court handed down prison sentences to the Head Coach and other team members of city government’s triathlon team, on charges of fraud and sexual and physical abuse.
The court ruling stated“The accused, abusing their power, verbally and physically assaulted Choi for a long time, causing her to make a fatal choice at the age of 22,” going on to say“stern punishment is inevitable”.
Head Coach Kim Gyu-bong was given seven years in prison for verbally and physically abusing Choi as well as diverting funds meant for training, while team captain Jang Yun-jung, a silver medalist at the 2018 Asian Games, was given four years and another teammate Kim Do-hwan was handed a suspended prison term of 18 months. These convictions follow last week’s eight-year jail sentence handed out to Ahn Joo-hyeon the triathlon team therapist.
South Korea jails ex-triathlon team therapist for 8 years
South Korea is a regional sporting powerhouse, regularly in the top 10 medal table places at both the summer and winter Olympics. But in a highly competitive society where coaches hold immense sway over athletes’ careers, its sports scene was long known to be rife with physical and verbal abuse.
This latest dark episode for South Korean sport in recent years saw widespread public uproar prompting the South Korean parliament to strike out a phrase from the law on promoting national sports that had stated the main purpose of elite sports was to project the country’s strong image abroad.
Both Head Coach Kim Gyu-bong and team captain Jang Yun-jung have been handed life bans by the Korea Triathlon Federation (KTF) while the other athlete involved Kim Do-hwan was handed a 10-year ban.
