SEOUL, Feb. 8 (Yonhap) -- A Seoul court on Thursday rejected a South Korean alpine skier's request to suspend the national ski body's Olympic team selection.
Kyung Sung-hyun filed an injunction with the Seoul Eastern District Court seeking a suspension of the Korea Ski Association's (KSA) decision last month, which denied him a slot.
"Even if the court halts the implementation of the KSA decision, Kyung can't be selected to the national team," the court said. "Requesting the suspension of the KSA decision doesn't have a benefit of confirmation."
At the end of January, the KSA announced a list of four alpine skiers -- two men and two women -- for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
On the men's side, the KSA selected Jung Dong-hyun, who specializes in the technical events of slalom and giant slalom, and Kim Dong-woo, who competes in the speed events of downhill and super-G.
But it has come under fire for its controversial selection process and for informing skiers of their exclusion so close to the Feb. 9-25 Olympics.
Kyung, who mainly competes in the technical events, claimed that the KSA technical committee in charge of sorting out national team members held a meeting without the chairman and did not comply with proper voting rules.
Kyung also said he is the top-ranked South Korean in giant slalom and is a much more accomplished skier in technical events than Kim has been in speed events. He later staged a protest against the KSA on the streets in PyeongChang, the host city of the Winter Olympics, with fellow skiers and family members.
This file photo taken on Feb. 4, 2018, shows South Korean alpine skiers Kyung Sung-hyun (L), Kim Seol-kyung (C) and Kim Hyun-tae at a protest against the Korea Ski Association in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province. (Yonhap)
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