"Feeling Sad and Sorry in Comments"... Deguchi Who Defeated Heo Mimi Appeals to Refrain from Malicious Comments

Dissatisfied Netizens Leave Malicious Comments on Deguchi's SNS
Some Netizens Use Unbearable Profanity

Krista Deguchi, a member of the Canadian team who won the gold medal by defeating Heo Mimi (Gyeongbuk Sports Council) in the women's 57kg judo final at the 2024 Paris Olympics, requested netizens to refrain from posting malicious comments. On the 1st, Deguchi wrote on her social media (SNS), "Reading the comments made me feel sad, and I feel sorry for the athletes I competed against," adding, "I understand your desire to protect the athletes you cherish. However, no country, no athlete, and no person welcomes meaningless fights." She continued, "I'm not saying you shouldn't have negative opinions. But is it really necessary to target others and pour out such words?" She emphasized, "All athletes did their best, respected each other, and competed for their dreams," and asked, "I hope fans will do the same as we do."

Scenes from the judo awards ceremony at the 2024 Paris Olympics held on the 29th (local time) at Arena Champs de Mars in Paris, France.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Deguchi, a Canadian-Japanese mixed heritage athlete, won the gold medal on the 30th of last month at the women's 57kg final held at the Champ de Mars arena in Paris, France, by defeating Heo Mimi with a penalty victory after an extended match. Both athletes received two shidos each, and Heo Mimi accumulated three shidos after receiving a false attack judgment during an attempted throw, resulting in her defeat. Kim Mi-jung, the coach of the Korean women's judo team, expressed dissatisfaction with the referee's questionable decision, saying, "There may be different perspectives, but the fact that the event was held in Europe seems to have influenced the judgment somewhat." Deguchi also commented at the medalists' press conference about the final shido decision, saying, "I have nothing to say," but added, "I think there are things we need to change for better judo."

After the match, Deguchi was harassed by malicious comments from some Korean netizens angry about the judgment. Some netizens even wrote abusive language that is hard to mention. Other netizens with different views posted apologies, urging not to collectively attack an innocent athlete. Exhausted by attacks from foreign netizens, Deguchi personally requested restraint.

Meanwhile, it is not uncommon for some Korean netizens dissatisfied with international competition results to leave malicious comments on the SNS of the athletes involved. During the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, the SNS of Canadian national team member Kim Boutin, who collided with Korean national representative Choi Min-jeong in the women's 500m short track final, was flooded with abusive comments from Korean netizens. One netizen even made death threats, prompting a police investigation. Kim Boutin expressed her pain in an interview with foreign media during the 2022 Beijing Olympics, saying, "Because of that incident, I considered retirement," and "There are still times when memories of PyeongChang suddenly come to mind."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.