[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] Viktor An (37, Korean name Ahn Hyun-soo), who naturalized to Russia and worked as a Russian short track national team athlete and a coach for the Chinese short track national team, has failed in his attempt to return to Korea.
Seongnam City announced on the 29th, "Seven candidates, including Viktor An and former Chinese short track national team coach Kim Seon-tae, applied for the city hall ice skating team coach recruitment. Viktor An and one other candidate were not among the top two times the number of candidates," it said.
A city official stated, "We made a comprehensive judgment based on various factors such as skills and communication abilities through document and interview evaluations," adding, "Perspectives arising from the ice skating community's public opinion and media reports were also reflected in the evaluation."
The city plans to announce the ice skating team coach selection results on the 31st. Seongnam City posted a recruitment notice for an ice skating team coach on December 19 of last year. Seven candidates, including Viktor An and former coach Kim Seon-tae, who led the Chinese team at the Beijing Winter Olympics, applied.
Viktor An was a leading star of Korean short track, winning three gold medals at the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics. In 2011, when his then team, Seongnam City Hall, disbanded the ice skating team due to financial issues, he naturalized to Russia to continue his athletic career. He became a triple gold medalist at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
After failing to participate in the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Viktor An announced his retirement as an athlete and transitioned to coaching. He served as a coach for the Chinese national team at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
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