South Korea Rejects Plea By Park Tae-Hwan, Sticks By Rio Ban

Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr

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The national Olympic committee of South Korea announced today that the ban on Park Tae-Hwan will stand and he will not be able to compete at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Tae-Hwan, a multiple Olympic medalist, was suspended for 18-months after testing positive for anabolic steroids prior to the 2014 Asian Games. Despite having completed his 18-month sentence in April the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) has a rule that “prohibits athletes from representing the country for three years after the expiration of any doping ban,” according to the Bangkok Post.

Once considered the poster boy of South Korean swimming, Tae-Hwan won one gold (400-M Free) and one silver (200-M Free) at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and nabbed two silver medals at the 2012 London Olympics.

KOC board member Han Jong-Hee announced to reporters,

The spirit of this protocol is to make sure that national athletes be armed with high morality. Doping runs against the spirit of fair play and it must be sternly dealt with, especially for the sake of educating young athletes.

The full report in the Bangkok Post can be found here.

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