S. Korean Olympic skaters face backlash for shaming teammate

GANGNEUNG, South Korea — South Korean speed skaters faced an angry backlash Tuesday after shaming a teammate in a live interview, prompting calls for their expulsion from the Olympic team.

Kim Bo-reum and her team finished seventh in the 500m team pursuit Monday, failing to qualify for the semi-finals at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

On live TV Kim blamed teammate Noh Seon-yeong, who fell a long way behind during the race.

"We were skating well," Kim said. Then she sniggered and added: "But the last skater (Noh) couldn't keep up and we had a disappointing score."

Park Ji-woo, also in the team, added: "It wasn't that we didn't think this would happen with Sun-yeong... "

Television footage showed Noh bursting into tears after the race,but Kim and Park ignored her.

Angry South Koreans started a petition demanding that Kim and Park be expelled from the national team. More than 222,000 people had signed up as of Tuesday morning.

"It is a clear national disgrace that such people with a personality problem are representing a country in the Olympics," read the petition posted on the official website of South Korea's presidential office.

"We are petitioning that Kim Bo-reum and Park Jiwoo forfeit their rights as national athletes and be banned from international competitions including the Olympics."

Kim closed down her instagram account hours after facing a flood of negative comments from outraged fans. Her sponsor, sportswear manufacturer NEPA, reportedly said it will not be renewing her contract when it expires at the end of the month.