[Yonhap News Photo]
Disgraced swimming star Park Tae-hwan will push ahead with his appeal to an international sports tribunal after South Korea's Olympic body made its final ruling Thursday to keep him off this year's summer Olympics in Brazil.
The Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) has omitted Park, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist in the men's 400m freestyle, from a national Olympic squad because of his recent 18-month doping suspension, saying athletes who've served doping bans aren't eligible to represent the country for three years.
Park has publicly pleaded for a second opportunity, saying he may take his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for arbitration.
In 2011, the CAS handed down a decision against the "Osaka Rule," which barred athletes who had served a doping-related suspension for at least half a year from competing at the following Olympic Games.
Though an appeal typically takes weeks, Park's case can be fast-tracked and settled much quicker. Pending the CAS ruling, he still has a chance to compete at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August. The Olympic entry deadline is July 18.
In confirming its earlier decision Thursday, the KOC vowed to fight back if the CAS rules in favor of Park.
Park's doping ban began retroactively in September 2014 and ended in March this year. He has met the Olympic "A" standards set by FINA, the international swimming governing body, and would have qualified for Rio if not for the KOC rule.
The KOC has maintained that it wouldn't create exceptions for any particular athlete, despite mounting pressure from fans to alter its stance. Critics say the KOC is unfairly punishing Park twice for the same offense, and the principle of double punishment runs counter to international standards.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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