Short track bias toward China? South Korea files appeal to Court of Arbitration for Sport

BEIJING — Charging bias toward China in short track speed skating, South Korea will file an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to “publicize the unfairness” of officiating involving its athletes.

“We will do our best to ensure our athletes won’t be treated so unfairly in international skating and sporting communities,” the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) said in a statement.

Two South Korean athletes, Hwang Dae-heron and Lee June-see were disqualified from the men’s 1000m semifinals on Monday, causing the South Koreans to cry foul. Angry fans accused the referee of deliberately knocking the Koreans out of the final in order to give the Chinese a chance to win on home ice.

Ren Ziwei of China won the gold while teammate Li Wenlong took the silver in the event. Another Chinese skater was fourth.

Hwang crossed the finish line first in his heat, but was penalized for making an illegal late pass. Lee crossed second in his heat, but was charged with a lane change that caused contact with another skater.

Those disqualifications paved the way for China to put two skaters the final.

The KSOC complained to the chief referee, the International Skating Union (ISU) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) after the races.

“Our decision to take the matter to the CAS also took into account the public sentiment,” said the KSOC. “The people back home are extremely upset with such biased officiating.”

China also was the beneficiary of disqualifications in the inaugural Olympic mixed team event on Sunday, in which it won the gold medal.

Kwak Yoon-gy, a South Korean short track athlete, told reporters “I thought to myself, ‘Is this really what winning a gold medal is all about?’ Things all just felt very hollow.”

In the semifinal, Hungary was first, with the United States a close second. But after a lengthy video review, a race judge ruled an American skater had committed an infraction by entering the race early, which impeded China’s exchange. The penalty allowed China to advance.

The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) was also disqualified for having a skater get in-between two Chinese skaters during an exchange, causing the Chinese to miss their tap. Kwak, 32, said he had never seen a team excused after missing a tap.

“I figured China, ROC and the U.S. would get penalized,” said Kwak, who didn’t compete for South Korea in the event. “If it had been any other country than China in that situation, I wondered if that team would still have been allowed to reach the final like that.”

Kwak had suggested on social media before the Olympics that China would get favorable calls as host country. He said he received hate messages from Chinese people on his social media for predicting that skaters from other countries would be disqualified for brushing past Chinese skaters.

“I am desensitized by things like this because I’ve seen these kinds of messages before, but I didn’t want some of the younger guys on the team to feel hurt later on,” Kwak said. “I wanted to let our fans know what we’re going through and ask them for their support.”

China made a big push for medals at these Games by hiring South Korean coaches.

Kim Sun-tae, who coached South Korea to six medals, including three gold medals, at the 2018 Winter Games, is the head coach for China.

Kim is joined by six-time Olympic champion Victor An, who was born Ahn Hyun-soo in South Korea but later became a naturalized Russian citizen and won three gold medals for each country — more than any other athlete.