SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The head of the South Korean Olympic Committee personally hopes to see Olympic swimming champion Park Tae-hwan compete at this year’s games in Rio de Janeiro despite his exclusion from the national team following a doping suspension.
Kim Jung-haeng‘s comments on Tuesday came a month after his committee made what it then described as an “irreversible” decision to leave Park out of Rio, upholding its rules banning athletes from competing with the national team for an additional three years after the end of their doping suspensions.
“As a former athlete who can emotionally relate with the excitement of being picked (for the national team) and going to the Olympics, [I think Park] should be able to go to the Olympics,” Kim, a former judoka, said.