The world’s attentions may have turned away from Sochi, but the recriminations are still ongoing. For South Korea, expecting their greatest Winter Olympics display, there is only disappointment and indignation. The expectation was for an impressive haul of medals before Pyeongchang hosts the 2018 winter games, but the team returned with just three golds from a total of eight medals.
Defending women’s figure skating champion Kim Yuna was sensationally beaten into second place by 17-year-old Russian ingenue Adelina Sotnikova. Despite a near-vintage display at the short programme, Kim led her younger Russian rival by just 0.28 points, much to the bemusement of the Korean media.
The following night during the free skate, the nine judges scored Sotnikova off the charts, almost beating Kim’s world record score at the 2010 Olympics, even though the Russian appeared to stumble on one landing. The home girl claimed the gold, and the Koreans cried foul play.
The result was questioned by many leading figures in the sport. Former American skater Michael Weiss labelled it a “hometown inflation” while two-time gold medal winner Katarina Witt claimed there “must be a discussion on the judgement”.
However, the spotlight has since shifted to the reaction of Korean netizens, typified by image memes shared on social media with such phrases as ‘Keep Calm and F*** Russia’.
Two weeks after the final skate, the website change.org reported that just over two million people had signed an online petition “demanding an open investigation into judging decisions in women’s figure skating.”
But at the same time, international soccer fans have brought up the ‘inconsistent’ refereeing regarded as helping South Korea to fourth place at 2002 World Cup that was co-hosted by the country.
Meanwhile, website totalprosports.com ranks the men’s light middleweight gold medal bout at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul as the “biggest Summer Olympics scandal” of all time. Roy Jones Jr landed 86 punches to Park Si-Hun’s 32, yet the judges sided 3-2 in Park’s favour.
So called ‘hometown decisions’ are sadly commonplace in sport, and the examples of 1988 and 2002 illustrate how Korean athletes have also benefited from this phenomenon. Kim, unsurprisingly, has handled the decision with great maturity – something that is lacking from many of her fans.
The question many foreigners want to know is why don’t Koreans direct the same level of rage to tackle some of the social problems in their country?
According to a 2012 OECD report, South Korea has the highest percentage of pupils unhappy at school. One article from the Korea Times last year noted that “high school students spend an average of 15 hours a day studying. They are forced into studying.” Education is competitive and stressful. A similar OECD report shows that Korean parents are the most expecting in the world when it comes to their child gaining a university degree.
And what of the consequences? In 2011, South Korea had the highest suicide mortality rates, well above Hungary in second place and more than double that of the OCED average. Where were the online petitions then? Perhaps they did exist, like those to end the 39 per cent wage gap between men and women. But it would appear nothing has riled the local populace like a Winter Olympics medal.
It was widely reported that Kim Yuna would bring the curtain down on a magnificent career post-Sochi. She should be celebrated for the magnificent figure skater and ambassador for Korea that she is. The gold medal decision was grating, but hopefully her fans will remember her whole career on ice more than a single decision at the end of it.
Andrew Farrell works as an English language teacher in Korea.
