On Wednesday night, American figure skater Mariah Bell, 22, allegedly cut the calf of 16-year-old South Korean competitor Lim Eun-Soo with the blade of her skate as the two were preparing for the women’s short program at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Saitama, Japan. On Thursday, the International Skating Union determined that there was “no evidence” that Bell had deliberately kicked Lim.
The accusation triggered a request for an investigation by the sport’s governing body. All That Sports, the agency that represents the Korean skater, told Agence France-Presse that it had asked the Korea Skating Union to lodge a formal complaint on Lim’s behalf with the ISU. “At this stage, we can’t conclude Bell caused the injury on purpose,” a Korea Skating Union official said, adding that Lim’s parents also mentioned the incident to the ISU. “It is hard to tell just by watching the video footage of the incident.”
