Rival nation launches Winter Olympics protest over China’s ‘unfair’ short track gold medal

Angered by the disqualifications of two of its 1000m short-track speed skaters at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, South Korea filed complaints with the International Skating Union and International Olympic Committee on Tuesday.

World-record holder Hwang Dae-heon and Lee June-seo were disqualified in the semi-finals, while South Korea suffered a further blow when Park Hang-hyuk could not compete after he was injured in a collision with a Chinese rival in the quarter-finals.

Watch the controversial moment China won gold in the video above

Watch the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics on Channel 7 and stream it for free on 7plus >>

Yoon Hong Geun, chef de mission for South Korea, said an appeal also will be filed with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

“We hope that such things will never ever happen again in the future,” Yoon said at a news conference.

Immediately after the semi-finals, the Koreans filed a protest with the referee asking for the reason why Hwang and Lee were disqualified.

The complaint was then filed to the ISU.

“The decision on the field of play will not be altered according to the sport’s rules,” said Choi Yong Koo, support team leader for South Korea.

“We are very clear on that, but are instead asking that such unfair penalties will be prevented from happening again. We are planning to protest more fiercely.”

Choi noted that in the video replay of the 1000m final, China’s Ren Ziwei appeared to have his hands on the leg of Hungary’s Liu Shaolin Sandor, who crossed the finish line first, fell and spun into the pads.

Liu was penalised twice and earned a yellow card. That elevated Ren, who crossed second, to the gold medal.

“We can’t understand why the Hungarian athlete got a penalty,” Choi said.

“The ISU has