Olympic skater Viktor Ahn announces retirement

[waves-of-light.livejournal.com]

Viktor Ahn, a South Korean-born Russian short-track speed-skater, has announced his official retirement at the age of 32. Consequently, it has increased the possibility of the athlete’s return to his motherland for the first time since his departure in 2012.

Viktor Ahn showcased his extraordinary talent at the 2006 Winter Olympics, when he won three gold medals while competing for South Korea as Ahn Hyun-Soo. However, the athlete soon ran into a few conflicts with the South Korean coaching staff, ultimately switching his allegiance and becoming a Russian citizen.

Afterwards, the speed-skater won three more gold medals at the 2014 Winter Olympics while competing for Russia as Viktor Ahn. With this, he became the most decorated short-track speed-skater in the Olympic history.

Regarding the athlete’s retirement, the president of the Russian Speed Skating Union (RSSU) Alexei Kravtsov shared a few comments. He said, “we sincerely thank him for everything he had done for the development of short-track speed-skating in Russia. We will always welcome him with open arms should he decide to work with us again in the future.”

Meanwhile, Ahn was excluded from participating in the Pyeongchang Olympics in February, after the International Olympic Committee refused to invite him. According to the committee, with the Russia’s sports doping scandal of 2016, they still had “lingering suspicions.”



source: KPopLove via Korea Daily

Comments

[921227.livejournal.com]

If he became a Russian citizen, why would he go back to SK? Like, it seems like he renounced his SK citizenship

[a-suitcase.livejournal.com]

I remember it was a complicated issue at the time, but basically the competition within the South Korean shorttrack team was wayyy more intense than the Russian team, which seems like the main reason why he changed nationalities. He got injured a whole bunch and then didn't qualify for the SK national team so switched. (it's not uncommon in speed skating, of the top of my head I can think of Ted-Jan Bloemen, Bart Veldkamp and Carlijn Schoutens who did a similar thing because the Dutch national speed skating teams are so competitive). So he may still be considering SK as his home.

[petecarl.livejournal.com]

I thought he switched because he was being pressured to let other SK members win gold.