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| Kim Bo-reum apologizes in tears at a press conference on Tuesday. / Yonhap |
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| The team pursuit speed skating event minus team spirit / Yonhap |
By Jung Min-ho
More than 470,000 people have signed a petition urging the government to kick "skater bullies" out of the national team after they were accused of ostracizing a teammate live on national TV.
"They must be expelled for the sake of future skaters," one person said in a petition on the Cheong Wa Dae website.
"It is such a disgrace that they represent our nation," another said.
The petition has garnered the second most signatures since the presidential office opened the service six months ago.
It shows how angry many Koreans became when they saw the broken team spirit during the women's team pursuit speed skating event on Monday.
Two South Korean racers ― Kim Bo-reum and Park Ji-woo ― crossed the finish line almost at the same time, with third racer Noh Seon-yeong far behind.
What Kim and Park said after the bizarre race infuriated many people.
"We were skating well," Kim said, smirking. "But the last skater couldn't keep up and we had a disappointing score.
Park said, "I was shocked when I crossed the finish line, because that's when I realized Noh was not with us."
Following the hostile reaction to their lack of team spirit, NEPA, sportswear maker and Kim's sponsor said it will not renew her contract when it expired at the end of the month.
Park later apologized in tears on TV ― but not to Noh personally. Popular opinion about the two athletes has not changed.
