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'If only I could participate in Olympics,' says Park Tae-hwan

'If only I could participate in Olympics,' says Park Tae-hwan

Posted April. 28, 2016 07:26,   

Updated April. 28, 2016 07:32

한국어
Park Tae-hwan (27) finished the 400-meter freestyle, which is his specialty, ranking world's No. 4 in the season.

On Wednesday, Park took the first place in the male 400-meter freestyle with 3:44:26 on the third day of the Dong-A Swimming Competition in Nambu University, Gwangju. He could not break the national record, 3:41:53, which he made in the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, but still ranked fourth in this season's 400-meter freestyle. As well as the 1,500-meter and 200-meter freestyle, he easily earned an A-grade score for the 400-meter freestyle (3:50:44), winning a triple crown. The standard score was set by the FINA (Fédération Internationale de Natation Amateur).

On this day, Park had to change his swimming suit as its strap broke right before the competition began. Park's coach Roh Min-sang stated, "If he had a rival, he could have finished it within 3:42:00. At the 250-meter point, he was 1.50 seconds behind our expectation." This season's record in the 400-meter freestyle was 3:41:65, made by Mack Horton (Australia). "I think that difficult moments I had recently acted as a stimulus to my training. I had a higher expectation though," Park said. "I failed to control my condition as it was the first competition for a long time."

Park also mentioned about the schedule, which began with the 1500-meter freestyle on the first day and then the 200-meter and 400-meter freestyle. "It was like running marathon and then sprinting. I did my best for each match, thinking it would be the best I could do to my fans," he said.

After the match, in an interview that he had for the first time in a year, he said, "I am feeling really happy because reporters and fans said that my performance was excellent in this competition. I had been only focusing on this competition, but if I am given a chance to participate in the Olympic, I know that I will do great. Breaking my own record would bring me medals. Just one more chance is all I need."

Park added, "The actual time I had for this competition was only six weeks. I feel proud of myself for putting up with the difficult moments in such a short period of time. With the lessons that I have learned from this competition, I could undergo any training, however intensive it could be. I can make my condition better than ever for new records."

Park's Coach Roh Min-sang also noted, "I hope that they will select Park for the Olympic because it is me who is guilty. He showed a very strong tenacity for his training even when his future seemed uncertain, for example finishing a 50-meter track 50 times in 29 seconds every day."

Cho Yong-ho, the secretary general of the Korean Olympic Committee, responded to Park and Roh's plea by saying, "Records are records, and rules are rules. There is no room for reconsideration, but if any issue occurs in future, we will deal with it then."

Park Tae-hwan was suspended for 18 months by the FINA after testing positive for prohibited drugs and was released from the suspension on March 2. However, he still cannot participate in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics because of the regulation that no one, who was suspended for various reasons including using drugs, can represent the country in any international competition until three years pass after the end of the suspension.



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