South Korean short track speed skater Shim Suk-hee leaves the Korea Skating Union's headquarters in Seoul after attending a disciplinary hearing Dec. 21, 2021. (Yonhap)
In a last-ditch effort to regain eligibility for the Beijing Winter Games, South Korean Olympic short track speed skating champion Shim Suk-hee has filed for a court injunction against a ban by the sport's national federation, a source said Thursday.
The source, privy to the legal proceedings, said Shim asked the Seoul Eastern District Court on Monday to nullify a two-month suspension by the Korea Skating Union (KSU), which was issued on Dec. 21 last year.
The court plans to hold a hearing for both Shim and the KSU on Wednesday.
Shim was suspended for making disparaging comments on her teammates and coaching staff during the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, the details of which were found in leaked text message exchanges with a coach.
Shim, a two-time Olympic relay gold medalist, chose not to appeal the ruling with the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee last week, leading to speculation that she would take a different step to get herself reinstated.
However, even if the court approves Shim's application for the injunction, she will face yet another hurdle to qualify for the Olympics.
The KSU will determine the final national team entries for the Feb. 4-20 Winter Games. Shim won the Olympic trials in May but was dropped from the national team in October, prior to the International Skating Union (ISU) World Cup season, when her text messages were leaked. She has not been competing or training with the rest of the team that skated in World Cups and the KSU may decide to leave her off for the Olympics, regardless of the court's decision.
The deadline to finalize entries for Beijing 200 falls on Jan. 24.
Shim was earlier accused of intentionally tripping up a teammate, Choi Min-jeong, during the PyeongChang Olympics. The KSU let her off the hook on those charges, despite their collision in the women's 1,000m final at PyeongChang, but Shim and Choi have yet to mend fences. Choi has openly called on Shim to stop calling her and texting her trying to apologize. It's difficult to imagine the two skating together in relays, given their off-ice history. (Yonhap)
