OlymPicks: Two Olympians Attempt To Reclaim the Glory of the Games

In OlymPicks, we highlight news, gossip, and developments regarding the buildup to Beijing's 2022 Winter Olympics.

Speed skating sex offender ditches South Korea for Team China

Earlier this week news broke that the reigning men’s 1,500 meters short track speed skating Olympic champ, Lim Hyo-jun, was eyeing the possibility of becoming a naturalized Chinese citizen so that he could compete for China’s national team at the Beijing 2022 Winter Games. Citing an unnamed source in a report by the South Korean Yonhap News Agency, Global Times says that Lim has already accepted a proposal from the Chinese Skating Association (CSA) and is “going through the naturalization process,” however, a representative of the CSA told the Global Times that “the association has not yet decided how to respond to this matter.”

Lim’s decision to leave his native South Korea and become a naturalized Chinese citizen stems from a 2019 sexual harassment incident in which the 24-year-old pulled down the trousers of his male teammate in front of a group of female teammates. After being fined and sentenced to one year in prison and two years probation – including a mandatory 40-hour therapy course for sex offenders – the verdict was overturned and now lies in the hands of the South Korean Supreme Court. Moreover, the Korea Skating Union had initially put Lim on a one-year ban, which began in August 2019, however, because the case is tied up at the Supreme Court level, that ban is currently in limbo. All of which is to say that at the moment, Lim’s 2022 Olympic future is tenuous, at best.

In a statement released by Yonhap and reported by Inside the Games, Lim’s marketing consultant, Brion Company said, “As the legal battle dragged on, it has become difficult for Lim to represent South Korea and try to win his second straight Olympic gold medal in Beijing. He hasn’t been able to train anywhere in Korea for the past two years. He just wanted to find ways to put his skates back on.”

The Olympic Charter stipulates that athletes can in fact change their nationality to participate in the Games on behalf of another country, so long as at least three years have passed since they represented their previous nation. Apparently, however, the National Olympic Committees, associated International Federation, and International Olympic Committee Executive Board have the authority to reduce or cancel this period on a case-by-case basis.

Scottish curler bounces back from “kick in the teeth”

In another somewhat scandelous comeback, Scottish curler Gregor Ewan also knows the pain of being booted from Olympic glory. After winning a bronze for the UK at the 2014 Sochi Paralympics and competing in the 2018 PyeongChang Paralympic Games, the 49-year-old was subsequently dropped from the team ahead of 2019’s Wheelchair World Championships in Scotland. Since then, he’s been doing some serious soul-searching, telling The Press and Journal, “I had got complacent on the squad and thought I would always be there.”

However, it wasn’t merely complacency and an inflated sense of confidence that led to Ewan losing his coveted spot on the team. Rather, in a fairly candid interview, he admits to excessive self-medication, saying “I was taking a lot of tablets – pain killers for pain management…I knew that I needed to change and to cut down on the morphine.” Despite his issues with substance dependency though, the intervening two years gave Ewan the necessary time to do some serious soul searching. “Not being on the program meant I had time to re-evaluate, but at the time it felt like a kick in the teeth.” Since then, the bronze medal winner has gotten himself back in shape, both mentally and physically. “I had to change and I did change during that period and I lost weight and I got fitter and I got stronger and that helped me mentally as well.”

Moreover, after becoming a coach for the English wheelchair curling club, Northern Ice, Ewan was given a new appreciation for both the sport and his former coach, Sheila Swan. “It made me realize how hard it is for Sheila. It made me see things from a very different perspective,” he says, adding, “That insight really helped and made me appreciate how hard it  had become to coach me.”

Although he’s back on the UK’s curling program, Ewan hasn’t officially earned his spot at Beijing 2022, but it’s certainly his aim. “In my head, I want a medal [at the World Wheelchair Curling Championship] and that is what I am concentrating on and then I want my long-term goal – Beijing. I might not make it but I can target it so what will be will be.

READ: OlymPicks: Beijing 2022 Torches Are Ready To Get Lit, Venues Ready To Get Played

Images:  zimbio.com, britishcurling.com