Simon Cho was a Korean native who moved to the United States with his family when he was 4-years-old, settling in Chicago. They later moved to Salt Lake City to allow Cho to train for speedskating, although the family’s financial situation was tenuous. Despite little support or backing, he made the 2010 US Olympic team where he won a bronze medal in the short-track relay. He also won a silver medal in the relay that year at the World Championships. In 2011, Cho won the 500 metre short-track race at the World Championships, adding a bronze medal in the relay.
Unfortunately, it was later revealed that at the 2011 Worlds, Cho had tampered with the blades of a Canadian skater, Olivier Jean, something which he stated he was told to do by then US short-track coach Chun Jae-Su, although Chun denied that. Chun shortly thereafter resigned as US coach, which also came after several US skaters accused him of verbal and physical abuse. In August 2013 Cho was found in violation of the code of ethics by the International Skating Union (ISU) and received a 2-year ban from sanctioned competition, which retroactively dated to 5 October 2012, the date he admitted to skate tampering. After the ban, Cho returned to coaching, become one of the leading coaches in the United States for short-track.
United States