Koreans angered bycold shoulder
Speedskaters’ actions were a ‘disgrace’
Noh Seon-Yeong’s tears have mobilized the hosts of the Pyeongchang Olympics, marring the Games for a nation that prides itself on civility.
Noh, a long-track speedskater, cried in the infield of the Gangneung Oval Monday after being humiliated by her teammates in the team pursuit. Kim Bo-Reum and Park Ji Woo walked by their distraught teammate unmoved after abandoning her in an event defined by co-operation. Only one person on the team comforted her: coach Bob de Jong, a four-time Olympic medallist for the Netherlands.
Koreans were so angered by the display a petition was started on President Moon Jae-In’s website asking Kim and Park be banned from the national team because “It is a clear national disgrace that such people with a personality problem are representing a country in the Olympics.” At one point Wednesday, that petition had 400,000 signatures.
In the pursuit, a team of three skaters race for time. Co-operation is key and skaters can literally push their teammates. Strategy often calls for a faster skater to be positioned behind a slower one to do that. Most teams trade off the lead spot, but all stay in the pack.
But instead of helping Noh or even skating at a pace that would keep her with the pack, Kim and Park skated away from their slower teammate in their quarter-final heat Monday. Noh finished alone, four seconds later, exposed as the weakest link in a team that could have — and, according to the sport’s longstanding unwritten rules, should have — shielded her.
Kim and Park gained nothing by finishing earlier. The clock runs until all three skaters cross the line.