USOC Turns Over Ohno E-Mail Threats to FBI

February 21, 2002

The threats were received following Ohno's first race of the Olympics, when he won the silver medal in the 1,000 meters after wiping out near the finish line, USOC spokesman Mike Moran said.

Another 16,000 e-mails regarding Ohno, mostly from sources in South Korea, crashed the USOC's Internet server early today for almost nine hours before it was restored, Moran said.

Ohno was the second one across the finish line Wednesday night but won gold when South Korean Kim Dong-sung was disqualified for blocking him during the last lap of the 1,500 meters.

The USOC was still working with communications officials to try to restore service more than eight hours later.