National judo team member Jeong Soojin, who was disqualified from the Asian Games for exceeding the weight limit by 100g, revealed that she failed the weigh-in due to misleading guidance from the coaching staff.
The head coach of the national judo team also admitted, "It was our mistake," and the Korea Judo Association announced plans to issue a formal apology and investigate the truth.
Jeong was disqualified after exceeding the permitted weight by 100g during a random weigh-in on the day of the women's 48kg round of 16 match at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on September 30.
In judo, apart from the official weigh-in the day before the match, some athletes are randomly selected on the day of the match for another weight check. During this check, a margin of up to 5 percent over the weight class limit is allowed, meaning Jeong, competing in the 48kg class, could pass up to 50.4kg.
Jeong stated that she had passed the official weigh-in the previous day and maintained her weight at 50.4kg on the morning of the match.
However, she explained that the manager and coach, who had misidentified the subjects for the random weigh-in, told her that only a male athlete from the same team was selected and that she was not.
Having gone through difficult weight loss, Jeong trusted the coaching staff's words and immediately ate about 300g of porridge, 200g of bananas, and about 600g of sports drink before preparing for the match, she explained.
However, she stated that she found out belatedly that she was also a target for the random weigh-in with only 15 minutes left until the weigh-in closed.
Jeong tried to reduce her weight by hastily vomiting the food she had eaten, cutting her hair, and continuing to run, but ultimately exceeded the allowed limit by 100g and could not compete in the match.
Jeong stated that it was also her responsibility for not directly checking the weigh-in list herself.
However, she explained that it was a natural situation for an athlete to follow the guidance of the coaching staff.
She also raised issues regarding the coaching staff's response after the incident.
Jeong claimed that on the morning of her return flight, she was told by the manager, "It needs to wrap up like this so it can end quietly."
In response, Jeong Seong-sook, the head coach of the national judo team, admitted to the coaching staff's mistake, saying, "A situation that should never have happened occurred due to our mistake."
The Korea Judo Association also issued a formal apology.
The association stated that as soon as the delegation returns home, it will thoroughly verify the relevant facts and take necessary measures based on the results of the investigation.
(Reported by Kim Minjeong, Video by Chang Yujin, Design by Lee Jeongju, Produced by SBS Digital News)
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