“Unprecedented weigh-in disqualification and flight boarding delay”: Coach Chung Sung-sook ultimately submits resignation letter

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

Chung Sung-sook, head coach of the women’s Yoo Do (CEO) team, who had caused a controversy over a weigh-in disqualification at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games and a flight boarding delay at the World Championships, submitted her resignation letter after the official evaluation meeting and stepped down from her position.

The Korea Judo Association announced that it held an evaluation meeting for the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games and the World Judo Championships on the afternoon of the 22nd in a conference room at the Seoul Songpa-gu Olympic Hall, and stated that Chung Sung-sook, head coach of the Yeo Ja (CEO) team, submitted her resignation letter to the headquarters immediately after the evaluation meeting, taking responsibility for the series of incidents that arose during the two tournaments.

It was an unprecedented situation. The controversy surrounding Coach Chung occurred during the women’s 48 kg class event at the Asian Games held in early this month. Jung Su-jin (Yongin University), who was scheduled to compete, consumed food without realizing she was a subject of random weigh-ins due to incorrect guidance from the coaching staff, and was disqualified for exceeding the weight limit. Immediately after, Jung Su-jin exposed the coaching staff’s negligence through her personal social networking service (SNS), sparking fierce public criticism.

The poor management of the team repeated itself on the departure journey to the World Judo Championships that followed immediately after. The national team delegation, including Coach Chung, missed their connecting flight at Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a transit point, and were stranded at the airport for approximately nine hours.

As the controversy spread, Coach Chung expressed her intention to resign upon returning home through Incheon International Airport after completing the World Championships on the 13th, stating, “All responsibility lies with the coach. I am sorry and feel guilty toward athlete Jung Su-jin.” Regarding suspicions that she missed the flight because she was eating, she explained it as a miscalculation of travel time, but she could not escape criticism over the failure to manage the team.

According to the Korea Judo Association, at the evaluation meeting on the 22nd, attended by Jo Yong-cheol (Chairman) and committee officials, among others, Coach Chung reported on individual athlete evaluations for both tournaments and trends of foreign teams, and submitted her formal resignation letter immediately after the meeting ended, completely stepping down from her position as head coach.

The Judo Association changed its policy regarding the operation system of the national team in light of this incident. Through the evaluation meeting, the Judo Association identified weight and weight-cut management, as well as the refinement of weigh-in protocols, as core tasks, and finalized improvement plans including establishing a communication channel between the national team and the association, conducting separate intensive training camps immediately after matches, introducing data-based video analysis, and providing customized judogi.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original