Olympic short track legend Victor Ahn, who won three gold medals for South Korea at the 2006 Torino Olympics as Ahn Hyun-Soo but switched allegiance to Russia in 2011, took the gold yesterday in the 1000m.
And the citizens in his native country are far from pleased about it.
According to Reuters, Korea’s skating union has been attacked by fans and media members alike in the wake of Ahn’s victory.
Furthermore, South Korea’s president, Park Gyun-hye, has now given orders to find how Ahn fell out with the union and wound up competing under the Russian flag.
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Interesting to note is that, unlike the union, Ahn himself has taken little heat for his decision to compete for Russia.
A Korean teacher’s comments that were run in local media would appear to represent the fans’ thoughts: “I am glad to see Ahn smiling, but somebody has got to explain why he is holding a Russian flag.”
Last night, Ahn explained that he sought, in his words, “to train in the best possible environment and I proved my decision was not wrong.”
He also may have foreshadowed a future reveal of the details behind his departure from the South Korean team.
“I will share everything I had in mind after Sochi is over,” he said.
Two words: Stay tuned.