At the beginning of May, a "sword of Damocles" hanging around the neck of South Korean Go was still cut down. The Korean Anti-Doping Commission officially informed the Korean Go Association that Kim Ji-eun (female), the mixed doubles gold medalist in the Go event at the 104th Korea Sports Conference in 2023, was stripped of her gold medal and banned for 18 months due to a positive doping test. Kim Ji-eun's appeal was first reported on January 29, 2024, but it was dismissed, and this is the final ruling.
The gold, silver and bronze medals of the 104th National Sports Conference of South Korea Go mixed doubles.
The 104th National Sports Conference of South Korea was held on October 14 and 15, 2023 in Lee Sedol's hometown of Sinan-gun, Jeollanam-do, with a total of 350 amateur players from 17 cities and provinces in South Korea aiming for four gold medals: men's team, women's team, mixed doubles, and youth. The mixed doubles gold medal was won by the Gyeonggi Province team Hong Geun Young/Kim Ji Eun, with which Gyeonggi Province topped the Go medal table with 1 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals.
Go venue at the 104th Korea Sports Tournament.
However, three months later, after the South Korean Anti-Doping Commission tested, Kim Ji-eun was directly banned for one and a half years (January 22, 2024 to July 21, 2025) for taking a drug containing methylephedrine hydrochloride and violating the doping test, and the gold medal was confiscated. Kim Ji-eun felt wronged, saying that she took cold medicine because she was unwell at the time, which was a mistake. However, ephedrine is the standard stimulant and has long been included in the sports prohibition drug, and the punishment results have not been changed.
Mixed doubles final. On the left is the Hong Geun Young/Kim Ji Eun combination.
Kim Ji-eun is one of the Korean amateur women's Go players, who has been debuting for nearly 20 years and has a wealth of experience. However, the inherent mode of operation of the Go industry is not fully integrated with sports, especially the Olympic Games. In the new situation of the rapid progress of the anti-doping struggle, the Asian Games in 2010 and 2023 have entered the Asian Games, and the comparison between the strictness of anti-doping work has been like a world away, and there is obviously a sense of faltering pace in this regard.
In 2010, Kim Ji-eun received the annual commendation of the Korean Go Association for ranking first in the Korean amateur women's Go world.
According to South Korean media reports, since 2024, the South Korean Anti-Doping Commission has announced a total of six cases of illegal drug use, including Go, water polo, golf, equestrian, judo and other sports. For example, ephedrine is mainly used to stimulate nerves, and it has a significant effect on the treatment of asthma and heart problems, and it is indeed a component of some cold medicines, but at the same time, it will bring side effects such as insomnia and heart palpitations, which should do more harm than good for Go games.
In 2019, Kim Ji-eun sat next to Kim Eun-ji, who was close to her name (undecided at the time), and was also photographed by a photojournalist.
However, "doping", as an important term in modern sports competition, is not only a category of "stimulating excitement", but also narcotics, diuretics, sedatives, etc., all of which are strictly prohibited. The reaction of the Go community to the process of testing doping with "one laugh" or even "scoff" is a direct manifestation of being out of touch with the times. The verdict of the South Korean Anti-Doping Commission has once again sounded the alarm for the Go industry that "if you don't take it seriously, you will definitely have painful consequences".
Hong Geun-young and Kim Ji-eun have cooperated to win the mixed doubles championship many times, and judging from the rare masked games on the court at that time, Kim Ji-eun's suffering from this catastrophe is indeed pitiful.
The Korean Go community is worried about this, and this scandal will only have an absolutely negative impact on whether Go can continue to be retained in the national sports tournament, which was only included in 2019. The "Outstanding Player Support Fund" for each city and province to support the Go program, as well as the Korea Amateur Go League, which was supported by the National Sports Tournament, will suffer a major setback.
Group photo of Go participants at the 2023 Korea Sports Conference.
While reflecting on the industry's lack of awareness of the severity of anti-doping, the Korean Go media expressed the following sentiment: "Although there is no doubt about Go as a member of the sports family from a legal point of view, it will take a long time for it to be recognized as a complete sport by players, administrators and even fans." ”