US figure skater slashes Korean rival with her skate / NBC
Footage has emerged of the moment a US skater allegedly slashed her Korean opponent with her skates during warm up at the World Figure Skating Championships.
Mariah Bell was accused of intentionally hurting her 16-year-old competition, Lim Eun-soo, who suffered a gash on her leg after the incident and had to be bandaged before competing.
Footage shot from the stands shows Eun-soo skating around the rink during warm-ups before Bell comes from behind with her leg extended behind her.
Eun-soo's expression became pained and she crumpled over. Photo / NBC Nightly News
Eun-soo, who was skating in her first senior world championships, suddenly crumples over and grabs her leg in pain while Bell skates on.
The incident sparked accusations that the American was intentionally trying to hurt her competition. Photo / NBC Nightly News
Eun-soo's agent told Agence France-Presse that the teen had been skating slowly around the edge of the rink before the incident took place.
"Mariah Bell, who was scheduled to rehearse after Lim, suddenly kicked and stabbed Lim's calf with her skate blades," Eun-soo's agent said.
"Mariah Bell didn't apologise to Lim after the incident and instead continued to rehearse for her routine."
The teen's management went on to claim that Bell, who trains under the same coach as Eun-soo, had been "bullying her for months" leading up to the World Championships.
Mariah Bell in the Ladies Free Skating of the ISU World Figure Skating Championships. Photo / Getty
The young Korean skater's management has since accused Bell of intentionally cutting Eun-soo but the International Skating Union found no evidence from the video to support the accusations.
Meanwhile, ISU officials said that the incident was verbally reported by the Korean Team leader but no formal complaint was laid.
"Based on the evidence at hand at this point in time, which includes a video, there is no evidence that Ms Bell intended any harm to Ms Lim," the ISU said in an official statement.
On Friday Eun-soo was seen still sporting her bandage. Photo / Getty
"The ISU met with delegates from both USA and Korea and urged both parties to find an amicable solution. The ISU maintains that this remains the appropriate approach."
Skating fans in South Korea have since weighed in on the debate on social media, with many noting the lack of apology from Bell while some backed the US skater instead.
"The problem with Mariah Bell was that she was skating too close to the edge and her blade stabbed into Eunsoo's leg," tweeted one fan. "Putting all bullying rumours aside, shouldn't she have apologised?"
"Why would a veteran skater like Bell injure someone during a PUBLIC PRACTICE in front of hundreds of fans?" asked one Twitter user. "None of the fans, who were taking notes, said ANYTHING about a collision."
Despite the incident, Eun-soo skated a personal best of 72.91 points on Wednesday night.
She placed fifth in the women's short program at Saitama, while Bell placed in sixth.
