from the Olympics may be an idea whose time has come. While most of the Olympic whining attention has focussed on Russia’s threatened hissy-fit, Korean criminal acts have gone largely unnoticed. This is all I could find on them (AP)
The threats were received following Ohno’s first race of the Olympics, when he won the silver medal in the 1,000 meters after wiping out near the finish line, USOC spokesman Mike Moran said.
Another 16,000 e-mails regarding Ohno, mostly from sources in South Korea, crashed the USOC’s Internet server early Thursday for almost nine hours before it was restored, Moran said.
and Reuters
South Korea have appealed against the decision and also plan to file a law suit in a U.S. district court.
and AP again:
South Korea is threatening to skip the closing ceremony and go to court over the disqualification that allowed American Apolo Anton Ohno to win a gold medal
Seriously, if these folks can’t play nice, they shouldn’t be invited. One South Korean skater has crashed twice in the short-track so far, taking out three skaters the first time and one the second. The first crash caused Ohno to get 6 stitches, and could have caused him to be unable to compete at all. The guy didn’t just crash, he reached out and grabbed Ohno and then crashed.
Entering kamikaze skaters in the races to take out threats to the country’s main man is as bad as it gets; I don’t see any downside to banning South Korea from the games.
This isn’t the first time South Korea’s conduct has been questioned. You might also remember the two famous boxing incidents (taken from http://www.abc.net.au/news/olympics/sports/boxing.htm
“But other official decisions have met with more dramatic protests. In the Seoul Games in 1988 a referee was attacked by a South Korean team official after he deducted two points from the total of Byun Jong Il for headbutting.
Byun consequently lost the bout and the ring filled with South Korean officials. The referee, Keith Parker from New Zealand, required an escort from the venue and took an early flight home.
For his part, Byun refused to leave the ring after the bout, relenting only when organisers turned out the venue’s lights.
He was borrowing a practice begun by his countryman Dong Kih Choh whose sit-in after losing a 1964 bout lasted 51 minutes.”
So others saw what I finally did. When the crash in the first race happened, I was willing to exercise the benefit of the doubt. After repeated watching it occurred to me that a world-class speed skater should know how to fall cleanly and without danger to others in the pack. Only a middle-aged clutz like me would reach out for someone to break a fall. There must be a million ways one of these skaters can be hurt in a fall, and to take someone with him would just multiply his own danger. (Look at Mr. Bradbury, two falls, 111 stiches and a broken neck.)I like your kamikaze skater theory.