Record-breaking petition seeks probe into Sochi figure-skating win
A petition demanding an investigation into the Olympic gold medal win of Russian figure skater Adelina Sotnikova is breaking records at Change.org.
Fans of Sochi silver medal winner Yuna Kim of South Korea have caused the petition to catch fire. It was gaining 100,000 new signatures every 15 minutes in the wee hours of Friday morning, Pacific time, with 90% of signatures coming from inside Korea.
“No other Change.org petition has gotten to 1 million signatures in eight hours before,” spokesman Mark Anthony told the L.A. Times on Friday morning.
MORE: Yuna Kim’s flawless performance cuts no ice
The petition had surpassed 1.7 million supporters at 8:15 a.m. PST Friday. Twitter comments by The Times’ Bill Plaschke were featured:
Kim didn’t win...unbelievable...scandal written all over this...Russian Sotnikova wins, fans going crazy, Kim disappears, wrong, wrong,— Bill Plaschke (@BillPlaschke) February 20, 2014
Sotnikova, 17, was a hero in her home country, host of the Winter Olympics, after beating out Olympic champion Yuna Kim on Thursday for the top prize. But the veteran skater’s fans, and others, soon were grumbling about possible “home cooking” in the judging.
The petition is authored by “Justice Seeker” at the activism website. “We’re still tracking down the details on the person behind the petition – mysteriously called “Justice Seeker” and allegedly from Sochi,” Change.org’s Charlotte Hill said.
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