SPORT / OLYMPICS
S.Korean short-track speed skater in sexual harassment incident
Published: Jun 25, 2019 07:53 PM
A South Korean Olympic short-track medalist sexually harassed another male Games podium-finisher, officials said Tuesday - prompting them to suspend the entire team. 

The offender - who has not been identified - reportedly forcibly pulled down the victim's trousers, leaving him standing in his underwear in front of teammates at the national training center in Jincheon.

In response coaches collectively punished the entire team - seven men and seven women - and expelled them from the facility for a month, a Korean Sport & Olympic Committee official told AFP.

Earlier this year, a male skater was suspended for a month after secretly getting into the female dorm at the Jincheon center.

Both male skaters involved in the latest incident won medals at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics last year, the official said.

It is the latest in a series of embarrassing off-field incidents in South Korean sports.

The nation's short-track speed skating community, in particular, has faced several serious abuse scandals in recent years.

In January, double Olympic short-track gold medalist Shim Suk-hee went public with accusations her former coach sexually molested and physically abused her multiple times.

Another speed skater, Noh Seon-yeong, last year accused the Korea Skating Union of forcing her brother Jin-kyu - a top medal contender for Sochi 2014 - to continue training rather than seek medical attention, despite chronic pain.

He was later diagnosed with bone cancer following a training injury, never went to Sochi, and died in 2016.


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