The Washington Post reported Saturday that six youth said they were struck or saw abusive actions by Kim, a 1998 Nagano Olympic 1,000-meter champion who retired in 2002 and began coaching speedskaters in the Washington suburbs.
Many South Koreans felt Kim was victimized in 2002 when he crossed the finish line first in the 1,500 at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics only to be disqualified for blocking US star Ohno in a major controversy.
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In this Feb. 13, 2002, file photo, Kim Dong-sung, front, of South Korea, and Apolo Anton Ohno, of the United States, battle for position in the men's 1000-meter short track speedskating preliminary race in the Winter Olympics at the Salt Lake Ice Center in Salt Lake City, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2002. The Washington Post reports that former Olympic speedskating gold medalist Kim has been accused of striking young skaters with hockey sticks and hammers. He denied the allegations during an interview last month. (AP-Yonhap) |
The Post reported that Kim, who won 12 world titles, is accused of striking skaters on the rear, hands, ribs and stomach with hockey sticks, hammers, hand timers, a wrench and blade guards.
US Speedskating received reports of the abuse allegations last July and issued a warning letter but took no other action against Kim, the report said, allowing Kim to continue teaching and coaching.
Kim, 31, denied the allegations in an interview with the Post and cited the lack of action by US Speedskating and no involvement of police as substantiation the claims were false.
"If these things are happening, it is not (a reporter) I am going to confront. It is a policeman," Kim told the Post through an interpreter.
The report said Kim kept physical punishments private by inflicting them in locker rooms or hiding them when done on ice, hitting skaters as young as six but typically targeting older male skaters.
US Speedskating officials were divided but in the end decided they had no grounds to impose punishment upon Kim.
"We didn't have anything that, I guess you could say, was actionable, like a police report," US Speedskating president Brad Goskowicz told the Post. "With the allegations, there was no way to know if they were accurate or not."
No further complaints against Kim have been made since the warning letter, Goskowicz told the newspaper.
Brad Olch, US Speedskating's interim executive director when Kim's actions became an issue, noted Kim has his supporters as well as complaints.
"He was abusing a lot of skaters and some parents were upset about that," Olch told the Post. "Yet a group of Korean parents who wanted their kids to succeed supported his methods. The board thought it was unacceptable - it was unacceptable.
"It's disturbing that he's still involved."
More than 30 people followed Kim as he moved locations and set up a new club following the accusations.
"If all of these things were true, US Speedskating would have taken my license permanently away. They didn't even investigate," Kim told the Post.
"If US Speedskating would have actually prohibited coaching in America, whatever it cost, I would have battled with US Speedskating for my rights."
