Coach banned over Olympic athlete assault

South Korea's skating authorities have suspended a national team coach for allegedly beating Olympic short track speed staking champion Shim Suk-hee.

The Korea Skating Union on Friday said Shim left a national team training centre for two days this week after she was allegedly assaulted by one of her four male coaches.

Shim has since returned to the training facility.

Skating authorities confirmed an investigation is underway, but did not identify the coach.

Shim won the women's short track 3000 metre gold medal during the 2014 Sochi Olympics. She also took silver the 1500m and bronze in the 1000m.

No details of the incident have been released, and It wasn't immediately known if the 21-year-old suffered any injuries.

Shim is preparing for the February 9-25 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.