North Korean Speed Skater Tries to Grab Japanese Rival's Blade After Falling Down

During a speed skating event at the 2018 Winter Games a North Korean competitor fell down and [...]

By Stephen Andrew

During a speed skating event at the 2018 Winter Games a North Korean competitor fell down and appeared to be trying to grab his Japanese rival's skate.

Shortly after the start of the race, Jong Kwang Bom took a tumble and ended up on sliding on the ice on his stomach, as reported by Newsweek.

Replays of the the fall seem to show the Olympian from North Korea attempting to grab the skate of Japanese competitor Keita Watanabe.

Watanabe was able to shake the grab and continue on, but the race was halted. Jong was disqualified from the race, but does not appear to have admitted that it was an intentional grab.

Watanabe did speak about the fall, however, diplomatically saying, "I believe it was unintentional. His hand happened to be by my skate as he fell down."

The Olympic games have made quite a few headlines lately with one concerning story being about an Austrian snowboarder who broke his neck during a crash.

As reported by USA Today, Markus Schairer damaged his fifth cervical vertebrae during one of the quarterfinal races in snowboard cross.

Somehow, 30-year-old Schairer still managed to eventually get back on his feet and finish the race.

Luckily, the Austrian Olympic committee released a statement detailing that while Schairer will be transported back to his homeland "as soon as possible" by medical personnel, he does not appear to show signs of "neurological impairment or long-term damage."

This is not Schairer's first snowboarding injury, as according to his Olympic profile he has three others in his past.

In 2013, Schairer "fractured a joint and tore four ligaments in his left shoulder after a fall in training at Lake Louise, AB, Canada."

Prior to that, in January of 2010, Schairer "broke five ribs in a fall in the quarterfinals of the Winter X Games in Aspen, Colorado."

Finally, his first reported injury happened in 2008 when he suffered a "ruptured cruciate ligament in his knee."

Schairer isn't the only snowboarder making headlines at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, China, as gold-medal snowboarder Shaun White recently made formal apology for calling sexual harassment allegations against him "gossip."

"I'm truly sorry that I chose the word gossip," White said. "It was a poor choice of words to describe such a sensitive subject in the world today. It's amazing how life works and twists and turns and lessons learned."

"Every experience in my life I feel like it's taught me a lesson and I definitely feel like I'm a much more changed person then I was when I was younger," he added.

The apology comes after White was asked about past sexual harassment allegations during a press conference following his third gold-medal win. White dismissed the question and the allegations as "gossip," which drew the ire of many people.

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