AGENCY
Seoul: South Korean swimming star Park Tae-Hwan, who was barred from the Olympics for doping, will compete for the national team in Rio after the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) ruled in his favour. The multiple Olympic medallist had sought “an urgent ruling” from the Lausanne-based body against his doping ban by July 8 — the deadline for South Korea to select their Rio swimming team.
“We will include Park Tae-Hwan in the list of national athletes who will take part in the Rio Olympics”, Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) Secretary General Cho Young-Ho was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency.
Park, 26, was slapped with an 18-month suspension after testing positive for an anabolic steroid in out-of-competition controls before the 2014 Asian Games.
The ban lapsed in April, but Park remained barred from the 2016 Olympics under a KOC rule which prohibits athletes from representing the country for three years after a doping ban expires. CAS ruled Friday that KOC’s extended ban constituted a double jeopardy for Park and should be nullified, according to KOC. South Korea’s Olympic committee had said earlier today it would abide by the CAS ruling. Park — once the poster boy of South Korean swimming before the doping scandal — has repeatedly begged for a chance to compete in what would be his third, and probably last, Olympics. (PTI)
