Olympic medal winner’s stunning admission

>>> as we mentioned there is a new scandal in the world of skating tonight after a u.s. olympic athlete made a shocking confession. he cheated. sabotaged a competitor that he says he felt he had no choice. our report on all of this tonight from nbc's stephanie gosk.

>> reporter: for short track speed skating , it is as close to hand to hand combat as winter sports gets, flying at 30 miles an hour, doing whatever it takes to get an edge. today, u.s. speed skater and olympic medal winner simon cho made a shocking admission.

>> i was pressured to do so by my coach.

>> reporter: he says his coach put him up to it, during the 2011 championships, using their mutual korean heritage to manipulate him.

>> when an elder asks you to do something in our culture, it is very difficult to deny.

>> reporter: he says his client won't comment until after the hearing. but today, the u.s. speed skating association said they couldn't prove the trick was the coach's idea.

>> we don't believe there was sufficient evidence to conclude that coach jaesue collaborated with him.

>> reporter: he knew there was something wrong with his skates the first lap of the relay and was forced to withdraw. he used a tool to align the skates, and it could have been extremely dangerous.

>> clearly they undermine the sport, so this is a tremendous black eye for the u.s. speed skating .

>> reporter: this likely will trigger images of the skating championships in years past, when harding worked against kerrigan. cho is waiting to hear what his punishment will be.

>> i called last night to apologize.

>> reporter: the u.s. and canada face off in just two weeks, in calgary. stephanie gosk, nbc news, new york.