A South Korean triathlete committed suicide after enduring years of physical and verbal assault by his coaches and seeing his complaints to sports authorities ignored, according to the press. Choi Suk-hyeon, 22, a bronze medalist in the junior category at the Asian triathlon championships in Taipei in 2015, is said to have died in June in his team's dormitory in Busan (southeast).
According to screenshots widely shared on social networks of the last message she sent to her mother, she begged her to "reveal the sins" of her attackers. One day, the young athlete wrote in her diary: "I was beaten so violently ... that I cry every day."
Deprived of food and slapped
Numerous articles published by the South Korean media claim that Choi Suk-hyeon made recordings of the physical assaults suffered. In a document broadcast by the YTN channel, we hear her coach getting upset because she has put on weight: "You must avoid eating for three days," he asserts. Then, he launches him: "clench your teeth" and we hear the sound of a slap.
According to media reports, team officials forced her to eat 200,000 won (nearly 150 euros) of bread to punish her for not controlling her weight and beat her regularly. The triathlete complained to the Korean Olympic and Sports Committee (KSOC) in April, in hopes of obtaining an investigation.
Ignored complaints?
An acquaintance told the Yonhap news agency that "she was looking for help from many institutions but that everyone (had) ignored her complaints". Facts challenged by the KSOC which said in a press release that it had appointed an investigator following her complaint. Expressing his "deep regrets", he undertook to take "severe measures" against the persons concerned. The prosecution is now seized of this case, he added.
South Korea is a regional sporting power that is regularly among the ten nations with the most medals at the Summer and Winter Olympics. But in an already highly competitive South Korean society, winning counts more than anything and in the world of sport, physical and verbal abuse are frequent. Last year, South Korean Shim Suk-hee, a two-time short-track Olympic gold medalist, accused her ex-coach, who has already been convicted of beating her for years, of sexually assaulting her. He was sentenced to ten months in prison.
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- Triathlon
- Suicide
- South Korea
- Sport