It's been with great interest that I've watched the Olympics this year. One thing that has been of particular interest to me is the continuing poor sportsmanship of the Korean short track speed skaters in their approach to Apolo Ohno. Don't get me wrong. I have it from an excellent source that Ohno isn't the nicest guy to the average employee working at the ice rink. Maybe he thinks a bit too highly of himself. That being said, in public, and in the spotlight, he seems to conduct himself rather well. Not so the Korean skaters. In the 1500m race held earlier in the week, Ohno collected the silver medal, and his teamate, J.R. Celski collected the bronze. Said gold-medal winner, Lee Jung-Su, "He [Ohno] did not deserve to stand on the podium".
The bad blood goes back to Salt Lake City, 2002, when apparent winner of the 1500m race, Kim Dong-Sung, was disqualified for blocking Ohno. Kim supporters deluged the IOC with complaints. It's been Hatfields and McCoys ever since, with the Koreans mostly sounding like a bunch of crybabies. Take the gift that they handed Ohno and Celski in the 1000m final. With three Koreans in the lead going into the final turn, the two in second and third took themselves out of the race by crashing into each other, allowing the two Americans to medal. That sound you heard was the collective slaps in the embarrassed faces of the Korean team and its supporters. Too embarrassed to admit their own culpability and failure, they tried to put the blame on Ohno.
Look, let your skating do the talking. If you're better than him, go out and win. If not, be gracious in defeat like the hundreds of other Olympic athletes who have done so.
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