Despite An Se-young flourishing in gold, she couldn’t truly relish in her achievement due to actions by the Badminton Federation of Korea.
After she swept China’s He Bingjiao in the badminton championship Monday – 21-13, 21-16 – the superstar used the podium to slam her home country of South Korea.
“I think it may be difficult to continue with the national team after this moment,” Se-young said after her win, as news.au.com reported.
Se-young pointed the finger at her national federation for “neglecting” her. She endured a knee injury last October during the Asian Games, and claimed there was a lack of support from the federation.
“I was so disappointed with [the association] during my injury. I really can’t get over those moments,” Se-young told reporters.
The 22-year-old took to Instagram before the Olympic games, addressing the issue to her 302,000 followers.
“After the Asian Games, I was initially told I would need 2 to 6 weeks of rehabilitation before returning, but since the pain didn’t decrease, I visited a different clinic after the December Tour Finals,” Se-young wrote.
“The new diagnosis revealed that the partial tear in my patellar tendon would not improve quickly and that I would need to manage the pain and maintain the injury until the Olympics.”
Se-young added that she was forced to focus on “adapting to the pain and preparing for the Olympics, rather than immediate competition results.”
Her radical choice to call out the federation after being crowned the new Olympic champion caused South Korea’s sports ministry to investigate the allegations.
In a statement from Tuesday, the sports ministry claimed they’ll obtain “exact facts as soon as the Olympics conclude” and “review the need for appropriate improvement measures based on the findings.”
Moreover, the statement said it will “examine whether there are areas for improvement in athlete management across other sports as well.”
In an interview with South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency on Tuesday, Se-young knocked the federation for failing to “train in a way that prevents injuries or take proper measures if an injury occurs.”
“I found my motivation in my anger as I set my goals and pursued my dreams,” Se-young told Yonhap, per news.au.com.
“I wanted to make my voice heard. In a way, my dream was [to have] a ‘voice.’”
