Gold medalist An Se-young apologizes for overshadowing fellow Olympians with BKA criticisms

Olympic gold medalist An Se-young apologized on Thursday to fellow athletes for overshadowing their moments of glory due to her recent criticisms of the Badminton Korea Association (BKA).

Korean badminton player An Se-young talks to reporters at Incheon International Airport on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

Olympic gold medalist An Se-young apologized on Thursday to fellow athletes for overshadowing their moments of glory due to her recent criticisms of the Badminton Korea Association (BKA).

“I apologize to the athletes who have worked so hard to compete at the Olympics,” An wrote on her Instagram account.

“Due to my remarks, the moments when they should have fully celebrated and enjoyed their glory were overshadowed like a tidal wave. I sincerely apologize to the athletes.”

She also announced her plan to share specific complaints about the association and the national team after the Olympics concludes, allowing "all athletes to be fully celebrated." The Paris Olympics will end on Sunday.

“I also apologize to everyone who has been waiting for my statement,” she added.

Speaking to reporters immediately after the gold medal match on Monday, An claimed that the national team staff failed to take a knee injury she sustained last year seriously, insisted on outdated training regimens and prioritized doubles players over singles players.

An returned to Korea on Wednesday but did not provide further details about her claims when reporters questioned her at Incheon International Airport.

Later that day, the BKA denied her allegation that they did not take her recent injury seriously, stating that they provided her with a personal trainer in February to aid her recovery and spent more than 11 million won ($8,000) to send a traditional Korean medicine doctor to treat her when she sustained an injury upon arriving in Paris.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]