South Korean swim star Park Tae-hwan 'shocked' by failed dope test
Beijing Olympic champion's clean-cut image and poster-boy image takes a hit
Olympic swimming gold medallist Park Tae-hwan has been left “shocked” by a positive doping test, which his agency has attributed to an injection given to the South Korean star during chiropractic treatment ahead of last year’s Asian Games.
Park won the 400 metres freestyle crown at the 2008 Beijing Games and is a two-time world champion.
As a world-class swimmer, Park Tae-hwan has been extremely careful about what he takes, and he hasn’t even taken cold medicine so that he wouldn’t fail doping tests.
His clean-cut image and poster-boy looks have made him one of the most popular athletes in South Korea, where he is known affectionately as “Marine Boy”.
However, that image looks to have been tarnished by a failed test, which the Korea Swimming Federation said was administered by the sport’s world governing body Fina, South Korea’s Yonhap News reported on Tuesday.
The swimmer was notified of the failed test in December, it added.
Park’s agency, Team GMP, said the swimmer had repeatedly asked if the injection contained illegal substances but had been assured it was safe.
"As a world-class swimmer, Park Tae-hwan has been extremely careful about what he takes, and he hasn’t even taken cold medicine so that he wouldn’t fail doping tests," Yonhap quoted the statement as saying.