Park Tae-hwan at a press conference after being accused of using banned substances [Photo by Namkung Jin-woong = timeid@]
Disgraced swimming star Park Tae-hwan saw his dream of coming back to the pool shattered after South Korea's sports governing body extended a ban over his doping scandal.
As its decision sparked an uproar and public backlash, the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) flatly said Thursday that it would not change its rule only for one person.
"Our decision is irreversible," the committee said, describing doping as a global issue requiring special attention under guidelines from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The only South Koran Olympic gold medalist in swimming was slapped with an 18-month ban by FINA after testing positive for testosterone in 2014. His suspension was lifted on March 2 this year.
But the KOC took an additional punitive step Wednesday against Park, a controversial rule that bars any athletes suspended for doping from joining national teams for three years beginning on the day the suspension ends.
The rule was adopted by the IOC in 2008. Three years later, the Court of Arbitration of Sport, the world's sports tribunal, determined that it is invalid. The IOC rule was also instituted in South Korea in 2014.
There have been calls for the KOC to change its rule, but the committee refused to amend it, putting Park under an additional three-year suspension.
Park, 26, won gold in the 400m freestyle and silver in the 200m free event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He also won more medals in the same events at the 2012 Games in London.
The four-time Olympic medalist had been training at home, hoping the KOC would allow him to compete. He would theoretically be eligible to participate in the 2020 Games in Tokyo. But he would be 29 at the time.
Park tested positive for a banned anabolic steroid in out-of-competition controls before the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, where he failed to win a title in front of his home fans.
In December last year, a doctor was fined $847 for injecting Park with the steroid Nebido to boost his testosterone levels.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
