Not patriotic enough – Michael Palfrey paid dearly for his support of South Korean Kim Woo-min, who eventually won the bronze medal in the 400m
It’s discouraging to speak out frankly. The Australian Swimming Federation fired one of its coaches on Friday, more than a month after the Paris Olympics ended. Michael Palfrey had caused a stir in his country by openly supporting South Korea’s Kim Woo-min, whom he once coached, against his two Australian rivals in the 400-metre freestyle final.
“I really hope he wins, but more importantly I really hope he swims well,” Palfrey, wearing the Australian team jersey, told South Korean reporters. “Go Korea!” he even said.
While describing the comments as “anti-Australian”, head coach Rohan Taylor stopped short of immediately removing Palfrey, saying it would have destabilised the team.
The coach has “discredited himself” according to his federation
On Friday, Swimming Australia finally announced that it had “dismissed Michael Pal(…) - 20minutes
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