As the 2012 Olympic Games in London continue to receive much attention from all over the world, numerous South Koreans rose in protest as they watch their athletes become entangled in some of the largest controversies in Olympic history.
One of the major controversies involved South Korean fencer Shin A-lam, who faced Germany’s Britta Heidemann in the women’s semi-finals round on July 30. After the round ended with a tie of 5-5, Shin believed she was through to the final gold-medal match, until a referee ruled that one second still remained on the clock and called back both competitors onto the piste. As if the first technical error of stopping the clock early was not enough, another one was made as the re-match went on for over a second, allowing Heidemann to win a 6-5 overtime victory.
Despite appeals by the South Korean coach Shim Jae-sung and the Korean Olympic Committee, the judges ruled in Heidemann’s favor after 30 minutes of deliberation. Shin A-lam, after an emotional sit-in on the piste concluded by the disappointing news, left the arena in tears after watching her Olympic dream slip away.
According to the Guardian, Shin spoke about the controversy after her final match: “I think it’s unfair. The one second was over – I should have won. The hour was really difficult, but I thought if I got a yellow card [for leaving the piste] I might not be able to fight for bronze. I’m very sorry for the spectators. They spent a lot of money and I just don’t understand how this could have happened.”
Two more controversies clouded over the Olympic Games. The first one occurred when swimmer Park Tae-hwan was mysteriously disqualified in the men’s 400-m freestyle event, though the decision was overturned after the Korean delegation appealed. The second was during the men’s 66-kg judo event, in which the referees and judges announced Cho Jun-ho as the winner in the quarterfinals but soon pushed him down to a re-match after being summoned by the chief director of referees.
“It’s so heartbreaking to watch these athletes be pushed around by unfair rulings,” said Jennifer Kim, a senior at La Crescenta High regarding these recent events. “I would be so crushed to have my goals taken away like that.”
Within a mere four days after the start of the Olympic Games, South Korea had already faced three disappointing results due to unexpected injustices. However, despite discouraging events such as these, many other athletes representing the country have reached great results, leading the country to place fourth in the overall medal count ranking as of August 7.
This made me very upset as well. I still think the way they dealt with this issue is unreasonable and quite unfair.
South Korea has been pushing its way to the top for the past century in technology, education, and sports. In the Summer Olympics this year, South Korean athletes have had some very disappointing moments. Nevertheless, Korea is in the top five countries for most gold medals won and is improving its position and ranking globally. Anyways, nice article!