US Speedskater Admits Sabotaging Rival's Skate

The latest soap opera in sports is emerging from ... the US speedskating team? Yesterday, Olympian Simon Cho admitted that he bent the blade of a skate belonging to Canadian Jean Olivier at a world event in Poland last year, reports the Chicago Tribune. Olivier fell in competition, costing Team Canada a shot at gold. It's "the biggest mistake of my life," said the 20-year-old Cho, who now faces a disciplinary hearing, reports AP. Why did he do it? Cho says he was pressured by US coach Jae Su Chun, who denies everything.

The strange part is that the US was already out of the competition at the event, notes the Washington Post. Cho says Chun simply wanted to get back at the Canadian team for a perceived slight earlier. The allegations come as current and former members of the team allege a pattern of physical and emotional abuse by Chun and seek to have him and his assistants fired. Investigators yesterday said they hadn't found evidence to back up the claims. Chun remains suspended, however, because at the very least he learned of Cho's tampering soon after it happened and didn't report it. (More Simon Cho stories.)