THE darlings of South Korea’s Winter Olympics are back in the headlines eight months after their stirring run to a curling silver medal in Pyeongchang. South Korea’s sports ministry yesterday announced a joint investigation with the national Olympic committee into allegations of abuse by the so-called Garlic Girls. The five-member women’s curling team that shot to international renown in February and sparked unprecedented national attention for their sport sent a letter to the Korean Sport and Olympic Committee (KSOC) last week to outline their allegations. The women, from a remote province famous for its garlic, captured hearts in a country that barely recognized curling before and became sought-after models for commercials. The attention was so great during the games that their coach took away their cellphones to shield the curlers from any pressure. The Garlic Girls ultimately lost to Sweden in the gold medal match. In the letter, Kim Eun-jung, Kim Seon-yeong and Kim Cho-hee as well as the sisters Kim Yeong-ae and Kim Yeong-mi accused former Korean Curling Federation (KCF) vice-president Kim Kyong-doo of verbal abuse and team coaches of giving unreasonable orders and subjecting their private lives to excessive control. (SD-Agencies) |