The abusive behavior is likely going on in more sports than just curling, but they were the ones that caught:
In this file photo from Nov. 15, 2018, South Korea’s Team Kim curlers speak at a press conference at Seoul Olympic Parktel, accusing their former coach and curling officials of verbal and emotional abuse. From right are Kim Cho-hee, Kim Eun-jung, Kim Seon-yeong, Kim Yeong-mi and Kim Kyeong-ae. (Yonhap)
South Korean curling officials and coaches who abused the national women’s team members for years have been slapped with lifetime bans.
The Korean Curling Federation (KCF) announced Monday that its former Vice President Kim Kyung-doo, his daughter Kim Min-jung and her husband Jang Ban-seok will no longer be allowed to set foot in the sport.
he Kims were once considered the royal family in South Korean curling. Kim Kyung-doo was a founding member of the KCF in 1994. Kim Min-jung was the head coach of the women’s team when South Korea won silver at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. Jang coached the mixed doubles team at the same Olympics.
South Korea’s surprise silver medal, led by skip Kim Eun-jung, was one of the feel-good stories at the 2018 Winter Games. But later in that same year, Kim and her teammates claimed that they had endured years of verbal and emotional abuse by Kim Kyung-doo and his family. The sports ministry launched a probe into the athletes’ charges, and the ministry concluded in February 2019 that those allegations turned out to be true. The Kim family also owed the athletes millions in prize money won at international competitions.
I think that is what really got them was the embezzlement of the prize money. That is pretty low to take all the prize money from the athletes who did the majority of the work to earn it.
South Korea’s Jung Seung-won throws a stone at a wheelchair curling match of the PyeongChang Winter Paralympics against Germany on March 12, 2018, in Gangneung, east of Seoul. South Korea lost the game 4-3, ending its four-match winning streak in the round-robin preliminaries. (Yonhap)
Members of the women’s and men’s 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics curling teams are welcomed by residents of Euiseong, 334 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on March 12, 2018. The women’s team won a silver in curling, the first medal in the event for the country, at the Winter Games last month, making proud the city in North Gyeongsang Province where four of the five team members are originally from. (Yonhap)
South Korea’s “Garlic Girls” look like they will get a chance to cash in on their Winter Olympic fame by endorsing vacuum cleaners:
Kim Seon-yeong, middle, and Kim Kyeong-ae, right, sweep the ice after Kim Yeong-mi throws the stone during training at Gangneung Curling Center, Feb. 22. / Yonhap
As curling’s growing popularity in the nation is on rise, “Team Kim” (because all five players’ last names are Kim), or the “garlic girls” (because of Uiseong’s specialty crop), are considered the top choice for endorsements for certain manufacturers. The way they sweep the ice, the way they control the stones, they could make perfect commercials _ thought vacuum cleaner makers.
On South Korean electronic appliance manufacturers, from global brands such as Samsung and LG to local competitors like Dayou Winia, Yujin Robot and Dyson, the curling team has made a strong impression. Following the PyeongChang Olympics where the athletes will leave a huge footprint, commercial endorsements featuring them can potentially create a strong marketing effect for whoever hires them. [Korea Times]
