Park Tae-hwan wins 400-meter freestyle in Canada
Park Tae-hwan of South Korea reacts after winning in the men’s 400m freestyle final during the 13th FINA Short Course World Swimming Championships at the WFCU Centre in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, Tuesday. / EPA-Yonhap
By Baek Byung-yeul
Park Tae-hwan, 27, clinched the gold in the men’s 400-meter freestyle at the Short Course Swimming World Championships in Windsor, Canada, Wednesday (KST).
At the WFCU Centre, the 2008 Beijing Olympics champion came in first at 3 minutes, 34.59 seconds while Aleksandr Krasnykh of Russia took silver in 3:35.30 and Peter Bernek of Hungary bronze in 3:37.65.
With the win, Park became the first Korean to win the short course championship, which is contested in a 25-meter pool, half the length of regular-sized ones.
Park advanced to the final after being placed second in the heats with a time of 3:38.47. During the final, Park was behind Krasnykh up until the 300-meter mark but he pounced to overtake the Russian in the final 100 meters.
Given that his time Wednesday was a personal best
more than two seconds faster than one he set in 2007
the win could be a remarkable turnaround for Park as he has had a few forgettable years.
Park was suspended last year for 18 months by the International Swimming Federation (FINA) for testing positive for banned testosterone supplements in 2014. But he remained ineligible for the national team after the doping ban as the Korean Olympics Committee (KOC) bans athletes who have been suspended for doping from representing the country for three years starting the day their international ban ends. To resolve the issue, he took the KOC case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport which ruled in his favor in July.
After the court battle, he participated in this summer’s Rio Olympics but fizzled there, failing to make the final in the 100, 200 and 400-meter freestyle races.
Park then showed signs of comeback after winning two races at the country’s National Sports Festival in October and four titles at the Asian Championships in Tokyo last month.
He also revealed last month that former vice sports minister Kim Chong urged him not to take part in the Rio Olympics. Kim is suspected of aiding Choi Soon-sil, a longtime friend of President Park Geun-hye. Choi is suspected of interfering with state affairs and Kim allegedly assisted Choi to launch lucrative projects in the sports sector.
Park, who is scheduled to compete at 100, 200, 400 and 1,500-meter freestyle races at the World Championships, will seek another gold medal in the 200-meter freestyle today (KST).