Officials say An Se-young skipped a press conference. She says she was told to stay away.

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Officials say An Se-young skipped a press conference. She says she was told to stay away.

Published: 07 Aug. 2024, 05:54 Updated: 07 Aug. 2024, 05:56

JIM BULLEY
jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr

An Se-young talks to reporters at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

Olympic gold medalist An Se-young skipped a press conference for Korean badminton medalists on Monday. Officials told reporters An had decided not to come. She says she was told not to go.

An departed Paris to return to Korea on Tuesday, a day after she won the badminton women’s singles title and leveled a series of criticism at the Badminton Korea Association.

Speaking to reporters immediately after the gold medal match, An claimed that national team staff failed to take a knee injury last year seriously, insisted on archaic training regiments and focused on doubles players over singles players.

An’s departure from Paris on Tuesday was already scheduled — the entire Korean badminton team left Paris together — but her absence from the morning’s press conference was not.

An Se-young poses with her gold medal after winning the women's individual badminton tournament at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Monday. [YONHAP]

Speaking to reporters at Charles de Gaulle airport, An said that she would make a statement when she was back in Korea.

"The situation is quite complicated now," she said according to Yonhap News Agency. "I will have more to say once I am back in Korea."

On her absence at the morning’s press conference, An said: "They just told me to wait. There wasn't anything I could do. I don't know what's going on."

KSOC President Lee Kee-heung also responded to An’s criticism on Tuesday, telling reporters that he had ordered coaches to submit reports on how An’s injuries were handled.

He didn’t comment on her complaints about training methods, saying that he did not have enough information and would look into the situation further after the Olympics.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]