Women's judo coach, athletes miss connecting flight after meal in Dubai en route to world championships

Jeong Seong-suk, head coach of South Korea's women's national judo team, and four athletes missed a connecting flight in Dubai while traveling to the World Judo Championships — the latest controversy to hit a squad already under fire over a weigh-in disqualification at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

Citing a Korea Judo Association official, JoongAng Ilbo reported Tuesday that Jeong and the four athletes failed to board their connecting flight to Baku, Azerbaijan — where the International Judo Federation World Championships are being held — after stopping in Dubai on Sunday. The group waited roughly nine hours at Dubai Airport before boarding an alternative flight to Baku.

The team had no direct flight to Baku and had a layover of about three hours and 45 minutes in Dubai. Rather than proceeding directly to the connecting terminal, Jeong and the athletes stopped for a meal first. They missed their booked flight after falling behind schedule on the way to the terminal.

Men's head coach Hwang Hee-tae and eight male athletes, along with three female athletes who had been on the same flight, boarded the Baku connection as planned. The four athletes who missed the flight compete in heavier weight categories and had roughly two days before their weigh-ins, so their participation in the championships was not affected.

After wrapping up the Asian Games, the judo squad returned to South Korea on Sunday and departed for the world championships that same night without disbanding. The championships run through Saturday.

This is not the first time the team's coaching staff has come under scrutiny over athlete management. Jeong Su-jin of Yongin University, who had been set to compete in the women's 48-kilogram category at the Asian Games, was disqualified after a random supplementary weigh-in on the morning of her competition showed she was 100 grams over the weight limit.

Jeong Su-jin wrote on Instagram on Sunday that she had passed the official weigh-in the previous day and had kept her weight in check through the morning of the competition, but ate a meal after coaches told her she would not be subject to a weigh-in. She said she learned only later that she was on the weigh-in list, and that she tried to vomit and even cut her hair in a last-ditch attempt to make weight — but still fell short.

Coach Jeong Seong-suk acknowledged the coaching staff's fault, saying "a situation that should never have happened occurred because of our mistake," and apologized to Jeong Su-jin. International outlets including Australia's IB Times also reported that a promising South Korean athlete lost her chance to compete at the Asian Games by 100 grams due to incorrect guidance from coaches.

The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee's Athletes' Committee urged a thorough investigation into the responsibility of the coaching staff and the association. Jeong Su-jin's weigh-in disqualification has also been referred to the Sports Ethics Center.