Canada’s Kim Boutin threatened on social media after bronze-medal win

Canada was quiet on Day 5 of competition at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, with athletes kept from the podium after winning a flurry of medals over the past three days.

But there was plenty of noise on social media, with Canadian short-track speedskater Kim Boutin the subject of angry, sometimes threatening tweets after her controversial bronze-medal performance in the women’s 500-metre race.

Boutin set her social media accounts to private Wednesday after hundreds of angry messages were directed at her by irate South Koreans. Boutin finished fourth in the race, but was promoted to third when South Korea’s Minjeong Choi was disqualified for interfering with the Canadian. Angry fans tweeted animated gifs or still images from the race, claiming that Boutin had pushed Choi.

The subject was also raised later in the day at the International Olympic Committee’s media briefing.

“Clearly what we want is for great performances to be applauded and that’s what the Olympic Games is about,” said IOC spokesperson Mark Adams. “We’re not in control, nor should we be, of social media and unfortunately these incidents do come up from time to time. It’s regrettable.