<Anchor> In
connection with the allegation that short track skater Shim Suk-hee deliberately collided with Choi Min-jeong during the Pyeongchang Olympics, Choi Min-jung requested a thorough investigation.
Shim Seok-hee, who was scheduled to receive the Korea Sports Award three days later, has been put on hold.
Correspondent Ha Seong-ryong.
<Reporter>
A text message between Shim Suk-hee and the national team coach exposed by an internet media contains content that makes it suspicious of an 'intentional collision' during the Pyeongchang Olympics.
When the coach says, "Let's make Choi Min-jung a Bradbury," Shim Suk-hee agrees.
Bradbury was the gold medalist at the 2002 Olympics when all of the leading runners fell while running last.
After several conversations with the coach and Bradbury, Shim Suk-hee collided with Choi Min-jung, who was also considered to be the winner in the 1,000m final, and lost the medal.
At that time, Shim Suk-hee said it was an accident, but
[Shim Suk-hee / Pyeongchang Olympic Representative (2018): The part going out overlapped, so there was a part where he fell while collided...
.]
Recently, as texts were released, suspicions of intentional collisions spread.
Choi Min-jung's agency demanded a thorough investigation, and said that trust in Shim Suk-hee had collapsed.
[Kim Seon-young / All That Sports (Choi Min-jung's agency) manager: Choi Min-jeong also confirmed a situation where intentionality was suspected in the conversation (mentioned in the article), and is mentally very anxious because of the fear that the same situation may happen again.]
In the state audit, questions about the allegation of intentional collision continued.
[Cheong-rae Chung / Member of the Democratic Party of Korea: How is it from the athletics president's point of view?
Do you think it was intentional?]
[Lee Ki-heung / President of Korea Sports Complex: I think our players would not have done that with intention.]
While the Korea Sports Association is in the midst of reconsidering the Korea Sports Award that was scheduled to be given to Shim Suk-hee this coming Friday, the Ice Skating Federation announced that it would soon establish a dedicated team to investigate whether there was an intentional collision.
(Video editing: Woo-Jeong Woo)