Park Tae-hwan got hormone injections
Park Tae-hwan
Swimmer says he didn't know it's banned substance
By Nam Hyun-woo
Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office said Tuesday it was investigating a doctor for giving Olympic star swimmer Park Tae-hwan, 25, a testosterone injection at a clinic at the end of July.
The male hormone is included in a list of banned substances for athletes.
Officials from the clinic confirmed that Park was given the injection to help boost his hormone levels, but they claimed weren’t aware that testosterone was a proscribed substance for sports professionals, the prosecution said.
Park’s agency Team GMP said the swimmer repeatedly asked the doctor about the content of the injection, and was reassured it contained no banned substances.
Park was questioned as a witness by prosecutors last Sunday after his agency filed a complaint against the doctor who administered the injection for professional negligence.
According to the Korea Anti-Doping Agency and the Korea Swimming Federation, the 2008 Beijing Olympic champion tested positive on an International Swimming Federation (FINA) test conducted before the Incheon Asian Games last September.
Team GMP released a statement Monday night acknowledging that Park had failed a doping test, but did not immediately reveal which test and what substance he took.
“Park is more shocked by the test results than anyone else,” the agency said in its statement. “As a world class swimmer for over a decade, he has been extremely sensitive about what medicine he takes, and he has taken extra effort not to take a prohibited substance.”
His agency meanwhile has blamed the injection given by the doctor for the test failure. Two months before the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, Park was offered free chiropractic therapy at the clinic in question and the doctor there offered the shot.
“The doctor confirmed the injection was completely okay, but it later turned out to contain a banned substance,” Team GMP said.
It added that it will hold the clinic criminally and civilly liable, saying “It was clearly an illegal act that a physician gave a world class swimmer an injection containing a banned substance at a critical time for him prior to the Asian Games.”
The agency will appeal Park’s case to the Korea Anti-Doping Agency (KADA) and FINA.
According to an official at KADA, Park will have to appear at a FINA hearing. The punishment for the swimmer will likely be decided after the hearing; up to four years of suspension is possible, which will affect his bid to appear at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Park is one of the most decorated sports stars in Korea. He became the first ever Korean medalist in Olympic swimming after clinching the 400-meter freestyle gold and the 200-meter freestyle silver at the 2008 Olympics
In continental competition, he claimed one silver and five bronzes at the Incheon Asian Games, becoming the Korean athlete with the most Asiad medals in history with a total haul of 20.