A SOUTH Korean triathlete has taken her own life after enduring years of physical and verbal abuse from coaching staff and having her complaints to sporting authorities allegedly ignored, according to reports.

Choi Suk-hyeon, 22, who won bronze in the junior women’s event at the 2015 Asian triathlon championships in Taipei, is said to have died at her team dormitory in Busan last month.

According to widely circulated screenshots of her last text messages with her mother, she begged her mum to “lay bare the sins” of her abusers.

The South is a regional sporting power and regularly among the top 10 nations on the medals table at the Summer and Winter Olympics.

But in an already intensely competitive society, winning is virtually everything in its sports community – and abuse, both physical and verbal, is known to be rife.

Choi came fourth in the 2016 national championships elite women division, but failed to fulfil her early promise, dropping to 14th in the same contest last year.

On one occasion, she said in her journal: “It was raining today and I was beaten so bad… I am shedding tears every day.”

Multiple reports in South Korean media said Choi compiled audio recordings of her physical abuse.

In one file broadcast by cable news station YTN, her coach is furious that the athlete had put on weight.

“You have to avoid eating for three days,” he said.

“You promised me you would take responsibility.”

Then, he told her, “Clench your teeth”, followed by the sound of a sharp slap.

Team officials forced her to eat 200,000 won (RM715) worth of bread as punishment for failing to control her weight, and habitually beat her, said the reports.

Choi complained to the Korean Sport and Olympic Committee (KSOC) in April, seeking an investigation.

An acquaintance told the Yonhap news agency that she had “sought help from many public institutions, but everyone ignored her pleas”.

KSOC denied ignoring her complaint, saying in a press release that it had assigned a female investigator after receiving Choi’s plea in early April.

It promised to take “stern measures” against those involved, expressing “profound regret” over the incident.

Prosecutors are looking into the case, it added.

A petition posted on the South Korean presidential office website today, demanding a thorough investigation, saw more than 5,000 signatures by mid-morning.

Last year, short-track speed skater Shim Suk-hee, a double Olympic gold winner, went public with accusations that her former coach sexually molested and physically abused her multiple times.

The coach has been jailed 10 months. – AFP, July 2, 2020.