In addition to being disappointed that his team was eliminated early from the mixed team relay in short track speed skating at the World Championships in Beijing over the weekend, South Korean short tracker Kwak Yoon-gy appeared even more dissatisfied that China was awarded gold due to what he claimed to be biased judging.

In a scrum with South Korean media on Sunday, a day after China won the country's first Olympic gold medal in the mixed relay on home ice, Kwak said it was impossible to express the range of emotions he was experiencing as a result of China's journey to the gold medal.

As Kwak, 32, observed China's gold-medal victory, he expressed regret that his younger comrades were forced to see such a spectacle. "I questioned myself, 'Is this truly what it means to win a gold medal?' I wondered to myself. Everything simply felt eerie and gloomy."

Kwak was alluding to China's growth since reaching the semifinals of the World Cup. Hungary took first place, followed by the United States, who came in second. China finished in third place. The top two teams from each of the two semifinal heats would go to Final A, where the medals would be awarded, while the other teams would be placed in Final B, where they would compete for third place. As a result, China, whose head coach is former South Korea coach Kim Sun-tae, would have had no opportunity to compete for a medal had the results stood.

Following a lengthy video review, the race judge concluded that the United States had committed an infringement, allowing China to go to the finals instead of the United States. An American skater was disqualified for crossing the blue line and entering the race too soon. In a short track relay race, which is notoriously chaotic, skaters compete on the other side of the line while those not currently competing circle the middle of the track, mirroring their teammates before the exchange. And it was determined that this move had hampered China's ability to exchange.

The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) was also disqualified for interfering with an exchange by inserting a skater between two Chinese skaters. Ren Ziwei and Zhang Yuting of China were unable to complete their tap due to the error, but China was permitted to continue.

"I was glued to the television screen, watching the race unfold. I anticipated that China, the Republic of China, and the United States would be penalized "Kwak, who did not compete for South Korea in the new relay event, expressed his disappointment. "The Dutch skaters who were in the audience with me agreed with me on this point. However, as the review went on, I became increasingly certain that China would be permitted to continue. Moreover, when the final decision was reached, I found it difficult to accept it."

According to Kwak, who is competing in his third and final Olympic Games in Beijing, he has never witnessed a situation in which a relay team was excused from a penalty for completely missing an exchange.

The coach went on to say, "If it had been any other country but China in those scenarios, I'm not sure the squad would have been permitted to reach the final in that manner."

It's important mentioning that South Korea was not directly involved in any of the judging-related disputes between China and South Korea on Saturday. It's understandable to ask why Kwak was getting so worked up over the issue.

"I had a sneaking suspicion that it might have been us on the wrong end of everything," Kwak added. "I thought about how distressing and infuriating it would have been if we'd been a part of it"

In the days running up to the Olympics, Kwak anticipated that China will continue to get positive nominations for the role of the host country for the games. Additionally, Kwak reported that he had gotten some irate Chinese people's hate comments on his social media accounts for claiming that skaters from other nations will be penalized for brushing past their Chinese counterparts during the competition.

Kwak decided to make those comments public earlier this week when he uploaded a snapshot of some of the messages on his Instagram story, which went viral.

As a result of previous exposure to these types of communications, Kwak claimed he was "desensitized" to them. "I didn't want any of the younger players on the squad to get injured later on," he said. We're going through a difficult time, and I wanted to let our supporters know about it and ask for their support."