Skating Team Discord

The discord within the national short track speed skating team has been a distraction for some time. But the disunity the team displayed at the 2006 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Minneapolis was by far the worst yet.

The two national team coaches usually split the job of strategizing for the men’s and women’s relay races. But in Minneapolis, strategy sessions were divided not by gender, but by alma mater. Korea Sport University alumnus Park Se-wu coached four the four skaters from Korea Sport University, and Song Jae-geun coached the other six.

Athletes from these two groups dined separately and seldom spoke to each other. The coaches even did not know what room “the other athletes” were staying in.

This disunity was illustrated when Jin Seon-yu was injured during women’s 3,000m relay; only one of the coaches accompanied her to the hospital.

This disunity affects personal relationships between athletes as well. Ahn Hyun-su and Lee Ho-seok went to the same high school and used to share a dorm room last year. “A lot has changed now. There’s simply no room for a friendly conversation. We feel estranged,” said Lee Ho-seok. Ahn Hyun-su feels the same regret. He posted a message on one of his fellow athletes’ personal webpages: “There is not a single exchange of conversation among us during practice. How did it get this way?”

However, the distraction didn’t arise from the alma maters only. Mr. J and Mr. Y, both of whom were leading figures in Korean short track speed skating, taught many pupils of their own, forming two sizable factions. These two groups are in a struggle for Korean ice sports influence and using the national team as their battleground. To make the matter worse, the parents of athletes are adding to the situation by trying to influence the skating union.

All are in agreement that the factional discord is a problem; but its solution seems very difficult. Last year, the union tried to form its leadership with personnel that belonged to none of these factions, but failed when met by severe objections from the athletes’ parents. Two anonymous union officials expressed their resolve: “There are no other options left for the union, except that we provide clear written regulations pertaining to the selection process for the national team, and push forward without yielding.”

Sung-Kyu Kim kimsk@donga.com