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according to an investigation by the south korean parliament, an se-young had been bullied for a long time in the south korean team, doing odd jobs for the coach, seniors and senior teammates, and was subjected to verbal and physical violence. what was even more disgusting was that she had to wash the underwear of those older male players.

this morning, #korean olympic champion was bullied for a long time# ranked first on the hot search list.

image from visual china

it's not just an se-young. there is a widespread trend of the old bullying the young in the korean badminton team, and the korean badminton association turns a blind eye and even protects the bullies.

currently, the south korean parliament's investigation into the korea badminton association is still ongoing. in addition to the bullying incident, officials of the korea badminton association are also suspected of colluding with sponsors for corruption and forcing players to choose sponsors.

the investigations all stemmed from an se-young's "withdrawal from the team" at the paris olympics. after winning the women's singles championship in paris, an se-young threatened the korean badminton association that she would withdraw from the team.

earlier reports:

previously, an se-young announced her withdrawal from the super 750 event japan open badminton championships (august 20-25) and the super 500 event korea open (august 27-september 1) citing knee and ankle injuries.

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 jaw-dropping is that according to korean media reports: after an se-young was selected for the korean national team at the age of 15 in 2017, she was called a genius by fans, but under the restrictions of traditional korean culture, she, the youngest player, had to take charge of chores in the team during her seven-year national team career: including helping senior players repair broken badminton racket strings, cleaning the room, and even doing laundry for some senior players. it is said that an se-young complained to her parents and the badminton association more than once, saying that she was often disturbed by extra chores, resulting in insufficient rest after competitions or training. although the association reported this to the national team, seven years later, 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.

source: red star news, beijing youth daily sports, chao news