U.S. national short track coach suspended in tampering incident

[Mathman]

The head coach of the U.S. short track speed skating team has been suspended for allegedly instructing a skater to tamper with a Canadian skater's blade in the 2011 word championship. This was supposedly in retaliation for Canadian skaters helping Japan win over the U.S. in an earlier meet.

Hersh: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2...no-jae-su-chun

Another article: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/...and-suspension

Here is the ISU's statement: http://www2.isu.org/vsite/vnavsite/p...0.html?id=1140

[Tonichelle]

hmmmm so are we all thinking the same thing? That speed skating is as corrupt as figure skating, just in a different way?

[Olympia]

I don't know anything about non-short-track speed skating (long track skating?), but short-track skating looks like malfeasance waiting to happen. It's so rough, and there's so much possibility for collusion in obstructing skaters from other countries. It's like roller derby on blades. I've always been uneasy watching this sport.

So yes, I imagine that at least that branch of speed skating has some chance for questionable behavior.

The thing about figure skating is that generally, it's not the skaters who are at fault. They do their best. It's the coaches, or the federations, who do stuff that wouldn't pass muster when exposed to the light of day.