Star swimmer Park Tae-hwan’s doctor was indicted for negligence on charges of administering a banned substance to the athlete without properly notifying him, prosecutors in Seoul said Friday.
Park, South Korea’s first Olympic gold medal swimmer, failed a doping test in September. Results announced in December showed that Park had taken testosterone, a substance banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
But Friday’s indictment appears to support claims by Park that he had never been informed of the doctor’s injection of the material. Park reportedly said he had consistently asked the doctor, identified by his surname Kim by prosecutors, if the injection could cause doping test problems.
Kim had assured the athlete nothing would go wrong, according to statements from Team GMP, Park’s agency.
Prosecutors added their investigations showed that neither Kim nor Park knew the injected materials violated WADA regulations.
The indictment is also expected to affect decisions by authorities at a related hearing to be held on Feb. 27 by FINA, the international governing body of swimming, in Switzerland. The hearing will probe Park’s doping allegations.
Despite the indictment that appears to clear Park’s name, FINA authorities may still ban the swimmer from the 2016 Rio Olympics and take away the medals he won in the 2014 Asian Games. Park won one silver and five bronze medals in the competition last fall in Incheon, South Korea.
Park has expressed “shock” at the doping test results. The 25-year-old has vowed to continue practicing despite the ongoing investigations.
Park’s popularity has only grown in South Korea since he rose to fame in the 2008 Beijing Olympics as the country’s first international Gold-medalist swimmer. He has earned estimated billions of won through commercial endorsements since then.
By Jeong Hunny (hj257@heraldcorp.com)
