US Speedskating to probe alleged abuse

LOS ANGELES (AFP) –

US Speedskating placed Chun Jae-Su on administrative leave and promised an extensive investigation into allegations of abuse against the head coach of the national short track team.

US Speedskating placed Chun Jae-Su on administrative leave and promised an extensive investigation into allegations of abuse against the head coach of the national short track team.

“Obviously this is not something that any governing body wants to have happen,” said spokeswoman for US Speedskating Tamara Castellano.

“The safety, security and well being of our athletes is always our primary concern.

“We hope to resolve this as quickly as possible so that everyone can move on to a training environment that is comfortable for all of our athletes as we move closer to Sochi.”

No criminal charges have been brought against Chun but police in Utah are investigating.

Castellano said assistant coach Yeo Jun-Hyung will step in for Chun, who has denied any accusations from team members of verbal, physical or psychological abuse.

Yeo was promoted despite also being named in the complaint by more than a dozen members of the national team, including 2010 Olympic medalists Allison Baver, J.R. Celski, Alyson Dudek, Travis Jayner and Jordan Malone.

“While Jun was named in the grievance, there have been no specific claims made against him and therefore he will coach the team for now,” said Castellano.

“For the stability of the program and because athletes in the national racing program know him and are comfortable with him, he will be coaching while Mr. Chun is on leave.”

The American long track team is not part of the allegations against Chun who is the former coach of the South Korean national team.

He led the US team at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics where the short track skaters won a half dozen medals. Chun’s star athletes at those Games were Katherine Reutter and Apolo Ohno who are not part of the complaint.

Nineteen athletes did file a grievance over Chun’s alleged behaviour and the federation’s failure to stop it, and 14 signed a code of conduct complaint with the US Olympic Committee on August 30.

A USOC spokesman said Friday that the organization is probing allegations that Chun slammed an athlete against a wall and repeatedly hit him, threw bottles and chairs at skaters, and told women skaters they were “fat”.

It also claims that Chun told his skaters to be “obnoxious” to Canadian rivals at the 2011 World Team Championships.

Chun, who was born in Daegu, South Korea, coached the South Korean team until shortly before the 2006 Olympics. He worked with the Canadian team before he was hired by US Speedskating in 2007.