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South Korean talent An Se-young won the women's singles badminton championship at the Paris Olympics, the second gold medal won by Fang Zhuxian at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. This was a great event for South Korean badminton. However, at the press conference after the game, the new Olympic champion directly criticized the Korean Badminton Association for problems in athlete injury management and training methods.He also revealed that he might express his dissatisfaction by quitting the national team.

Recently, some media reported thatIn addition to issues such as injury management and training methods, An Se-young's dissatisfaction with the Korean Badminton Association is also related to traditional customs such as the concept of hierarchy in the Korean sports circle.

After her attack on the Korean Badminton Association caused a stir, An Se-young's game with the Korean sports community continues. Recently, she cited knee and ankle injuries as an excuse.Announced withdrawal from the Super 750 Japan Open Badminton Championships(August 20-25) and the Super 500 event Korea Open (August 27-September 1), and there seems to be a trend of not participating if no explanation is given.

Looking at the development of the incident, An Se-young initially accused the Korean Badminton Association of inhumanity. Since 2022, she has been suffering from pain in her right knee. She hoped to take a temporary rest to adjust her body, but the Korean Badminton Association has been forcing her to participate in the tour with injuries; even though her knee injury obviously required adjustment and rehabilitation, she was still required to participate in the team trials to be selected for the national team. This practice also made her feel very inhumane; what is more complicated is that her coach Han Soo-jung (sound), whose contract she trusted very much, failed to obtain a contract renewal from the Korean Badminton Association after the expiration of the contract, and could not accompany her to the Olympic arena.

What is shocking is that according to Korean media reports: In 2017, after 15-year-old An Se-young was selected for the Korean national team, although she was called a genius girl by fans, under the restrictions of traditional Korean culture,As the youngest player in the national team, she has been responsible for team chores throughout her seven-year career, including helping senior players repair broken badminton racket strings, cleaning rooms, and even doing laundry for some of her seniors.It is said that An Xiying complained to her parents and the Badminton Association more than once, saying that she was often disturbed by extra chores.This results in not getting enough rest after a game or training.Although the association has reported the issue to the national team, seven years have passed and the relevant issues have not been improved or resolved.

Interestingly, the Korean Badminton Association, which was under fire, said: "After the interview with An Se-young, we immediately expressed our suggestions for improvement to the national team." "But after hearing these opinions, the national team coaching staff replied, 'We can't solve these problems immediately, but we will gradually change them.'"

This shows how deeply rooted this hierarchy concept is in the Korean sports world. It is no wonder that on the day she just won the Olympic championship, An Se-young could not help but complain about her experience. In fact, in the Korean sports world, there are many talented girls like An Se-young, such as Ahn Hyun-soo, Lim Hyo-jun, etc.

Ahn Hyun-soo won three gold medals for South Korea and Russia in the 2006 and 2014 Winter Olympics respectively, and set many records for both countries in the event. Such performance can be regarded as a great athlete who pioneered the era of short track speed skating. However, his rough experience in reality is regrettable.

It was reported that there was factional fighting in South Korea's ice sports at the timeIn 2008, Ahn Hyun-soo was injured in an accident, but the Korean Ice Hockey Association refused to pay for his medical expenses, forcing him to undergo four operations at his own expense.Ahn Hyun-soo missed many competitions due to injuries, and due to changes in the selection system, he was not selected for the national team. A year later, he went to Russia and became the "Viktor Ahn" of the Russian short track speed skating team, helping Russia win three Winter Olympic gold medals at the Sochi Winter Olympics.

Image from Visual China

At the 2024 Short Track Speed ​​Skating World Championships in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, Chinese athlete Lin Xiaojun won three gold medals, completing the Grand Slam in individual events and becoming the biggest winner of this World Championships.

Chinese ice hockey fans cheered for Lim Hyo-jun's victory, but it caused an uproar in the Korean ice hockey world, because Lim Hyo-jun chose to become a Chinese citizen because he was banned by the Korean Ice Hockey Association.

At that time, Lim Hyo-jun was a proud child of Korean sports and a multi-millionaire winner of the Winter Olympics and World Championships. During a rock climbing training session of the Korean short track speed skating team in 2019, among the 17 people traveling together, senior Huang Daxian (also a Korean short track speed skater) took the lead in "teasing" the female team members. At that time, Lim Hyo-jun jokingly stepped in to help Huang Daxian, and took off his pants when he was not prepared, making Huang Daxian embarrassed in public.

Afterwards, Lin Xiaojun was suspended for one year and was even sued by Huang Daxian. In the end, Lin Xiaojun was sentenced to one year in prison and two years of probation in the first trial, and had to pay Huang Daxian 3 million won in compensation. After the suspension period ended, Lin Xiaojun chose to accept the invitation of the Chinese team to come to China and became a Chinese citizen.

Ahn Hyun-soo, Lim Hyo-jun, and now it's An Se-young's turn. Many people wonder why Korean athletes always have a bad relationship with sports management departments.Some people say that this is an extreme manifestation of the strict hierarchical concept in Korean society in the sports world. This can be reflected in the unequal relationship between newcomers and veterans, players and coaches, or players and sports organizations. In the 21st century Korean sports world, the hierarchical concept of king-king, minister-minister, father-father, son-son seems to still prevail.