South Korean badminton player wins landmark Olympic gold — then takes shot at country’s governing body

Seoul, South Korea CNN —

South Korea’s badminton gold medalist An Se-young envisioned a glorious return from Paris, popping open a bottle of champagne with the coveted medal around her neck.

But that wasn’t the scene at South Korea’s Incheon Airport last Wednesday, when reporters surrounded the Olympian, peppering her with questions about her criticism of the Korean Badminton Association and the national team — which have prompted the country’s governing body to open an investigation.

“I wanted to win in the Olympics, and one of the reasons why I persistently worked hard is because I wanted my voice to have power,” the 22-year-old gold medalist told a South Korean broadcaster in Paris.

An defeated China’s He Bingjiao 2-0 in the women’s singles final at the La Chapelle Arena Court on August 5, winning South Korea’s first Olympic gold in the event in 28 years.

The countrywas busy celebrating her triumph, until the athlete began calling out alleged mistreatment that she said she had endured for seven years, when she joined the national team.

An said the problems came to a head in May, when she wrote on Instagram that a hospital she had visited with a national team trainer initially said that two to six weeks of rehabilitation would be enough for her to return to training.

At the medalists’ press conference in Paris following her win, An claimed this was a “misdiagnosis” and said she had to “bear [the pain] and continue playing” because the Olympics were getting close.

“My injury was at a difficult situation, worse than what I had thought,” she said of her right patellar tendon that partially ruptured during the Hangzhou Asian Games last October.

“I was so disappointed,” An said of the national team, accusing it of