Simon Cho

Simon Cho
nation	United States
birthday	October 7, 1991
place of birth	Seoul , South Korea
size	183 cm
Weight	69 kg
Career
Trainer	Jimmy Jang
National squad	since 2006
status	blocked
Medal table
Olympic medals 0 × 0 × 1 ×
winter Olympics bronze 2010 Vancouver 5000 m relay
Placements in the Short Track World Cup
Debut in the World Cup February 1, 2008  500 m world cup 8. ( 09/10 )
last change: February 26, 2010

Simon Cho (born October 7, 1991 in Seoul , South Korea ) is an American short tracker .

Cho was born in Seoul, South Korea, and began speed skating there at the age of three . When he was five, the family moved to the United States, Chicago , but most of his relatives stayed in Korea. In 2000 he moved again, this time to Maryland , where the American national coach Jimmy Jang noticed him a year later and coached him from then on. Before Chos was accepted into the national team, the young athlete was the pacemaker , the so-called "rabbit", for the women's team in the 2005/06 season . He had to adjust his speed so that the teammates could follow him but still had to make an effort. Although the then 14-year-old could not use his full strength, it was, he says today, "his way of training with the national team".

After Cho had worked as a pacemaker for one season, he qualified for the A-team for the first time at the beginning of winter 2006/07 and made his international debut at the 2007 Junior World Championship. Although he was 47th in the overall standings, he was behind in the overall standings, but before that he had placed a good eighth place on the 500-meter individual course. In addition, there was the silver medal with the relay, so that the young athlete was also recommended for the World Cup team . Before he started in the most important short track competition series for the first time, he moved again in 2007, this time to Salt Lake City , where he still lives today. Here, too, he continues to be trained by Jimmy Jang.

Simon Cho made his World Cup debut in February 2008 when he was used for the first time in the two North American World Cups. After two disqualifications over his parade discipline, the 500 meters, he reached seventh place among more than 30 participants in the last race of the season in Salt Lake City , making him the best athlete in his country. In the overall ranking over 500 meters at the end of the season he finished 26th. During the following winter, the 17-year-old felt “overtrained and used up”, the season - without a single World Cup appearance - had been a “complete failure”. Eventually, friends convinced him to keep going, taking more care of his body.

The entire 2009/10 season had been significantly shortened and moved forward because of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver , so that the first World Cups took place at the end of September. Even before these races, the US Trials were held as a qualification for the Olympics. At these trials, Cho won a 500 meter competition, benefiting from a fall of fellow favorites Apolo Anton Ohno and John Celski and qualified for the Olympic Games. The 18-year-old, who had planned to retire after the trials, said immediately after qualifying: “It was a huge surprise. I can't understand it yet. ”At 18, Cho is the youngest ever nominated member of the US Olympic team. In the following World Cup season he was used in three of the four 500-meter competitions and reached the top ten twice, with a fourth and a sixth place. In the overall ranking of this winter he was the best American in eighth place, just ahead of Apolo Anton Ohno, who was only a few points worse.

In 2012, Cho admitted to having sabotaged the runners of his Canadian competitor Olivier Jean at the insistence of his coach Jae Su Chun during the World Short Track Speed ​​Skating Team Championships 2011 in Warsaw . The ISU disciplinary committee punished this on August 26, 2013 with a two-year competition ban (October 5, 2012– October 4, 2014), which shattered any hope of participating in the 2014 Olympic Games .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Decision of the ISU Disciplinary Commission of August 26, 2013 (PDF file) ( Memento of the original of October 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 

Web links

• Profile on nbcolympics.com