CAS rules Park Tae-hwan eligible to swim in Rio

Park Tae-hwan

By Baek Byung-yeul

Korean swimmer Park Tae-hwan will represent his country in the upcoming Rio Olympics, as the world’s top sports tribunal has upheld his appeal against the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC), Friday (KST).

The Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has ruled that Park is eligible to compete in the upcoming Summer Games in Brazil.

The 2008 Beijing Olympics champion was suspended for 18 months by the International Swimming Federation (FINA) in March 2015 for testing positive for banned testosterone supplements in 2014.

Park’s suspension ended this March, but he has remained ineligible for the national team, as the KOC bans athletes who have been suspended for doping from representing the country for three years starting on the day their international ban ends.

Disobeying the controversial KOC regulation, the 26-year-old swimmer filed an appeal with the CAS. He also filed an injunction against the KOC and the Korea Swimming Federation with the Seoul Eastern District Court, which granted an injunction Friday in favor of Park that he is eligible for the national team.

In response to the local court’s ruling, the KOC deferred its decision on Park saying it will abide by the CAS’s decision.

“After a board of directors meeting on Friday morning, we have decided to abide by the CAS ruling,” the KOC said.

The KOC added it will include Park on the national team squad for the Rio Olympics regardless of the CAS ruling. “We also have decided to put him in the Rio Olympics roster to the effect of respecting the local court’s ruling.” The deadline to submit the preliminary for the final roster to FINA for the Rio Olympics is Friday.

The KOC said it can finalize the roster of the Korean delegation for the Rio Games before July 18.

A month after the suspension ended, Park raced in the Olympic trials and made qualifying times for the Rio Olympics in four freestyle races ― 100-meter, 200-meter, 400-meter and 1,500-meter.