South Koreans Rejected in Protest of Kim Yu-Na Judgment

(ATR) South Korea’s protest over the judging during the women’s figure skating event was dismissed by the International Skating Union.

South Korea claimed there was a bias in judging from Alla Shekhovtseva, whose husband is the former president of the Russian Skating Federation. Gold medalist Adelina Sotnikova gave Shekhovtseva a hug after winning her medal.

South Korea claimed there was a conflict of interest by having Shekhovtseva as a judge, but the ISU ruled that Sotnikova initiated the hug, well after Shekhovtseva’s judging duties had been completed.

"It is highly arguable that such action of Shekhovtseva clearly constitutes a lack of independence and harms the purpose and spirit of the ISU rules, and it is therefore imperative that a thorough investigation for the judging composition and whether it was biased toward Sotnikova take place immediately," South Korea claimed in their protest.

South Korea tried to file a protest in Sochi, but failed to do so within 30 minutes of the completion of the figure skating competition.

"The judging of [Shekhovtseva] was neither biased nor partial to the Russian skater Sotnikova," the ISU’s three-person panel determined.

ISU also added Shekhovtseva and her husband Valentin Piseev were on different judging panels, so there was no opportunity for bias in her judging.

Written by Aaron Bauer

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