Fencing body offers Shin special award

The International Fencing Federation has offered South Korean Shin A-lam a “special award” after a disputed semifinal loss costing her a chance for the epee gold.

According to news reports from London, Korean Olympic Committee president Park Yong-sung said Tuesday that the fencing federation had made the offer and that the South Korean sports governing body had accepted it. According to Park, the KOC and the FIE will further discuss how to present the award, and Shin will be honored during the London Olympics, which will wind up on Aug. 12.

“They are very sorry and sympathetic to her,” Park said. “They are going to recognize it with some sort of event.”

But Shin said in an interview with The Daily Mail: “It does not make me feel better because it’s not an Olympic medal. I don’t accept the result because I believe it was a mistake.”

The FIE also rejected South Korea’s appeal Tuesday. In a statement, the federation said its jury of appeal upheld the referee’s decision to award the semifinal win to Britta Heidemann of Germany over Shin on Monday.

If the semifinal was declared a tie, the Korean would have advanced to the final, but the referee awarded the victory to the German following consideration of South Korea’s protest that the clock had stopped running during the last second of the extra period.

During the halted time, apparently longer than a second, Heideman attacked four times. Shin fended her off three times but not on the fourth.

By Chun Sung-woo (swchun@heraldcorp.com)