Sports Briefs

SPEED SKATING

Lee Jung-su won’t be going to the Winter Olympics

Former Olympic short track speed skating champion Lee Jung-su came up short of a berth in next year’s Winter Games in speed skating on Friday.

Lee, who made the switch to the long oval in August, ranked 10th among 20 skaters in the men’s 1,500m with a time of 1:52.10 at the national team trials at Taeneung International Rink in Seoul.

Lee needed to finish inside the top three to represent Korea at the International Skating Union (ISU) World Cup season. Berths for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games will be determined based on World Cup performances.

Lee, 27, won two short track gold medals at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, but turned to speed skating before the 2014 Sochi Winter Games.

After struggling in the new sport, Lee went back to short track and enjoyed a career renaissance during the last ISU World Cup season.

But after finishing eighth in the short track Olympic trials in April, where the top four earned Olympic berths, Lee decided to give speed skating another try.

BASEBALL

Umpire in KBO scandal is indicted for gambling, fraud

A former baseball umpire embroiled in a bribery scandal was indicted on gambling and fraud charges on Friday.

Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said Choi Kyu-soon will face trial without detention, after allegedly borrowing some 35 million won ($30,900) from baseball club officials and friends and failing to pay them back.

Choi apparently gambled away most of the borrowed money.

Choi is a central figure in a scandal that has rocked the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO).

Yonhap