Victory of Korean speed skater competing for Russia triggers outrage in S Korea

There should be rules against competing for two nations at the Olympics - it has happened in the summer games too and is a farce!

Koreans being sore losers is a "dog bites man" story.

What's the problem about a Russian winning a medal??????

Neither of you have actually read the article. They're blaming the Korean skating union for him "defecting".

SO let me get this straight, Victor Ahn was THE MAN at this particular venue before his injury. The Koreans didn't want him due to his injury but Ahn thought he could still compete. So under his own will and wishes, he IMMIGRATED to Russia, got paid and got his citizenship LEGALLY and now representing Russia and won a gold.

Where is the defection? Its a free world. He is allowed to represent for anyone he wishes so long as the other party wants him.

The only outrage should be how stupid the Korean Skating Union was for not having the foresight for selecting Ahn on the team. Congrats for Ahn for winning and proving his doubters wrong.

The only outrage should be how stupid the Korean Skating Union was for not having the foresight for selecting Ahn on the team. Congrats for Ahn for winning and proving his doubters wrong.

That's exactly where the outrage is aimed at! Another one who didn't actually read the article.

There should be rules against competing for two nations at the Olympics

What do you mean? Ahn has Russian nationality.

Korean people must be proud, IMHO. De facto he is a Russo-Korean champion. No reasons to be infuriated.

" The only outrage should be how stupid the Korean Skating Union was for not having the foresight for selecting Ahn on the team."

highball7 concurred with the article as follows:

" His gold medal victory in the 1,000-meter short track on Saturday provoked a furious response in South Korea—but with the anger directed squarely at the country’s skating officials rather than at Ahn himself."

Congrats to the skater!

In football, players can change their nationality only if they haven't competed in an international competition with the senior team, winning medals for different countries seems a bit odd but if the laws allow it...

You can always blame officials for not believing in or not giving the proper support to their athletes but hindsight is always 20/20.

koreans are outraged about everything, This, the GB skater who fell and brought down the Klingon, etc etc. They should calm down a bit. irish of Asia indeed.

People should read the whole article before writing any comment! The outrage is directed to the "Korean Skating Union", not the skater or Russia or someone else. It takes less than a minute to do it and still people just don't bother!

The outrage NOT being directed towards the athlete surprises me.

The first few posters not reading the full article surprise me.....

They wake up 3 years after Victor An was defected to Russia and compete for Russia team. What a funny S. Koreans? If he failed to win Gold and then they won't be talk about him.

Well, sack all South Korean skating officials straightaway.

Victor Ahn must be thanking the KSU in appreciation for kicking him out of Korea.

What do you mean? Ahn has Russian nationality.

Agreed, and he is only competing as a Russian citizen in these Olympics. So, there is no conflict.

Good for him in showing the world what he was still capable of!

The Olympics is way too much of a national battle. It should be about the olympians not the ridiculous political entities they represent.

Here's why he abandoned S Korea :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMMDl471Hz0

It was his whole personal choice that made his decision and not the " Korean Skating Union". Silly people just want something else to blame as an excuse. Just like blaming Japan wholly when the victims of WII didn't got their money after the South Korean's government used it for infrastructure. Give me a break! Blame yourselves instead!

Thanks for that video. FYI, you can activate the English subtitles in the video if necessary. I'm glad to see he is happy as well as successful.

Good on him and good on his fans. Patriotism is good in the right place but humanity transcends it.

This one made me laugh. Disposed athlete made gold medal under a different flag! Good, very good job boy! Never give up!

I congratulate Mr Ahn on moving to a country where his talents are appreciated, and where he feels comfortable and happy. I also thank titaniumdioxide for the interesting video link above in which Ahn says that he loves being in Russia where being liked by team mates and fans is not linked to what kind of medal he manages to win.

It doesn't take much to "outrage" this lot does it...

Yes, as soon as everyone sees "S.Korea" in the subject heading, they are outraged.

@ daisan - spot on. Football nationality rules are tight, and rightly so IMO. Olympics seem to be much looser, and it can lead to "flag-of-convenience athletes". Im certain everyone recalls the great Jamaican Merlene Ottey switching to represent Slovenia in the summer Olympics. In theory, nothing could prevent a mega-rich oil-state purchasing some great athletes. Usain Bolt to line up for Bahrain in Tokyo 2020?

Good on the South Koreans! At least they went after the system and not the man. I think common sense told them that nobody would give up citizenship and skate for another country unless there were extraordinary negative circumstances.

I feel sorry for Ahn and the KSU, now they are going to have to hear Koreans bitch about this tragedy for the next 1000 years. Another grudge for the ages. I can already hear the Korean obachans winding up their howl holes. Here we go!

I feel sorry for Ahn and the KSU

ActuaIly Ahn has full sympathetic support from the public who's cheering him on. It's the KSU who's in trouble.

@ MeanRingo - I wouldn't feel too sorry for Victor Ahn - his gold-medal bonus from his "new" government will probably be 10 times our annual wages! And judging from all reports he'll still be idolised when he gets back home to South Korea.

Ahn had become a sporting hero in South Korea after winning three golds at the 2006 Winter Games.

But beset by injury problems and after falling out with South Korean skating officials, he fast-tracked Russian citizenship in 2011, took the name Victor Ahn, and competed at Sochi as a Russian athlete.

His gold medal victory in the 1,000-meter short track on Saturday provoked a furious response in South Korea—but with the anger directed squarely at the country’s skating officials rather than at Ahn himself.

Monday’s newspapers all trumpeted his achievement while heaping scorn on the “incompetent” KSU.

“Vindication for Victor,” ran the headline in the JoongAng Daily.

Ahn’s falling out with the KSU rested on claims of factional infighting in the South Korean national team based on fierce university loyalties.

Monday’s edition of the Sports Seoul newspaper devoted three pages—under headings like “His choice was right”—to lamenting the turn of events that led to Ahn crossing the finish line in Sochi in a Russian team strip.

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he is a sportman, He wanted to play and he got chance in Russia. Congratulation.

Yeah, maybe the Koreans will stop trashing Japan for a while.

Good job by Ahn to have the guts to do everything he needed to for the win. The KSU deserves the scorn.

I'll bet that if Ahn had not won a medal or, better yet, if he had been beaten by a South Korean skater, the headlines would have been a whole lot different.

Yes, as soon as everyone sees "S.Korea" in the subject heading, they are outraged.

@chucky - It seems that some people saw "S. Korea" in the title and made up their minds..

http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=115&oid=449&aid=0000008093

70% Korean netizens surveyed responded that they wish to see Ahn Hyun Soo (Victor Ahn) win gold by beating a Korean skater. They wanted vindication for Ahn and to see the infighting KSU embarrassed.

AS the old saying goes once thought to be a lazy dog rises up to bite his own master!!

In other news, koreans are outraged at the British short track skater that crashed into their skater and have trolled her Facebook account, resulting in her having to issue 2 apologies and end up deleting both her Facebook and Twitter account.

It shouldn't be about the nationality anyway as David Foley points out. I even think the medal table is a bit pointless to be honest. Patriotism has its merits but there is also a flipside. The focus shouldn't be on the countries competing, but on the individuals. They should do away with the team events in my opinion. Less value in them anyway.

Wow. Can you imagine the reaction if he'd chosen to skate for Japan rather than Russia....

@Incabrasi: It has nothing to do with where he moved to. Please read article. The article reports the reaction of S Korean media and Govt, including President and Sport Minister. They were discussing on KSU conducts.

It has nothing to do with where he moved to.

How do you figure that? He left a place where he wasn't appreciated and moved to a place that is better for him. The moaning by politicians and fans is the irrelevant part. This young man has already moved on with his life. Congratulations to him.

@hidingout: You wrote Wow. Can you imagine the reaction if he'd chosen to skate for Japan rather than Russia...

That is why I wrote . It has nothing to do with where he moved to.

@hidingout: You wrote Wow. Can you imagine the reaction if he'd chosen to skate for Japan rather than Russia...

I didn't write that. Please try to follow along with the postings.

Short track is boring and rather stupid and should not be an Olympic event ... make it a straight sprint and fair race.

Hidingout: sorry, not you but lIncabrusi wrote. Korean officials and media criticized KSU. Ahn won with Russian team., With whatever cunntry team Ahn won, KSU would be targeted byf Korean officials and media. So, I think nothing to do with where he moved to.