Shen Xixi, surrounded by reporters
On January 18, Yonhap News Agency reported that South Korean short track speed skating Olympic champion Shen Xixi, who was expected to become the "elder of the three dynasties" of the Winter Olympics, was determined not to participate in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics due to his defeat.
According to sources, the Seoul Eastern District Court rejected Shin Seo-hee's request in December to lift the two-month ban with the Korea Skating Federation (KSU).
Shen Xixi, who won the women's relay short track speed skating at the two-time Winter Olympics, was suspended for insulting his teammates and coaches in text messages exchanged with coaches at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. Last October, an online media outlet reported on these profanity-ridden text messages. Shin Seo-hee, who won the Olympic trials in May 2021, was investigated by Korea National University and subsequently removed from the national team.
On December 21, KSU announced a two-month suspension, so she naturally missed the Beijing Winter Olympics that opened on February 4. Shen Xixi did not appeal to the Korean Sports Olympic Committee, but directly applied to the court on the 6th to suspend the execution. At the day's hearing, the court sided with KSU.
"I humbly accept the court's verdict and I would like to apologize to all those who have suffered as a result of my actions." Shen Xixi issued a statement through the brokerage company.
Shen's lawyer, Yin Zhuzhuo, said: "Shen was unjustly punished for illegally leaking text messages." And said: "In October last year, Shen was punished for being removed from the national team. Therefore, KSU's suspension amounts to a double penalty. ”
KSU's legal representative Kim King-hyun countered: "Representative Shen's actions during the 2018 Olympics have damaged the integrity and dignity of the sport, so the sport should be suspended." At the same time, she said that the expulsion of Shen from the team did not constitute punishment, because KSU must protect the national team players who have been denigrated by her and separate them from Shen Xixi.
As for how Shen Xixi's text message was made public? He said the standard of evidence in civil litigation was not as strict as in criminal cases.
Not only did he miss the Beijing Winter Olympics, but the gold medalist with a difficult fate also changed from a former victim to a perpetrator and fell into the center of public opinion.
At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Shen Xixi and Cui Minjing collided
In 2018, Shen Xixi revealed that he had been sexually assaulted and physically punished by national team coach Cho Jae-beom, which once won people's sympathy. In the end, Zhao was sentenced to 13 years in prison! The content of her text messages with the coach was included in the evidence submitted by Zhao's defense lawyers before it was leaked to the media.
South Korea won a total of 24 gold medals in short track speed skating, making it the most successful team in the history of the Winter Olympics.
It is worth mentioning that KSU will confirm the lineup for the Beijing Winter Olympics this week and officially submit it to the International Skating Union (ISU) next Monday. Even if Shen Xixi's appeal is successful this time, KSU still has the final say on whether she can participate in the Olympic Games. After all, Shen Xixi has not participated in competitions or received any organized systematic training in the past few months.
Her chemistry with the rest of the team can also become a problem. In text messages with the coach, Mr. Shen also made some remarks suggesting that he would deliberately run into teammate Choi Min-jeong during the match out of resentment. In the women's 1,000m final at the last Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, the two players did bump into each other.
Although she was not punished for this, the bridge of communication between the two players has been destroyed. In public, Cui called on Mr. Shen to stop texting and calling to apologize because it was too late.
As a two-gold winner of the Winter Olympics, Cui Minjing lost to Shen Xixi in the Beijing Winter Olympics trials. Currently, she is the leader of the Korean short track speed skating women's team.
(He Xia)