Park Tae-hwan is a swimmer who has competed for South Korea. He competed at the 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 Summer Olympic Games.
Park started his Olympic career as the youngest athlete of the South Korean team, aged 14, in Athens 2004. There, he was disqualified for a false start in the heats of the 400 metres freestyle. He later confessed that his disappointment over the false start rule fueled him to improve his starts, and he now produced one of the fastest reaction times among the best swimmers, posting under 0.7 of a second.
Four years later in Beijing, Park redeemed from a false start in Athens to surge past the field for an unexpected victory in the 400 metres freestyle with an Asian record time (3:41.86). His winning time also garnered him the second fastest swimmer in the event's history behind the world record holder Ian Thorpe. He also added a silver to his medal haul in the 200 with another Asian record (1:44.85), becoming the fourth swimmer in the event's history to clear a 1:45 barrier. With this feat, Park set a historic mark as the first Asian swimmer to win an Olympic medal in the distance-freestyle races.
At his third Games in 2012, Park was initially disqualified for a false start in the heats of the 400 metres freestyle, but he was reinstated into the final after the Korean Swimming Federation filed an appeal. He ended his race with a silver in 3:42.06, losing the title to Sun Yang by more than a full second. He repeated his similar feat from Beijing in the 200 metres freestyle, when he tied for the silver with Sun in a matching time of 1:44.93.
In July 2016, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that Park would be eligible for his fourth Olympics after the Korean Olympic Committee had intended to bar him from competing for the national team despite the lifting of his doping ban. He was tested positive for testosterone in 2014 until the case ended several months before Rio de Janeiro 2016.[1][2] With a dearth of training time after the doping case, Park failed to enter the next round from the heats of the 100, 200, and 400 metres freestyle and withdrew from the 1500, leaving the Games without a single medal.
Olympic Results[]
Year | Event | Rank |
---|---|---|
2004 | Men's 400m freestyle | DQ |
2008 | Men's 200m freestyle | |
Men's 400m freestyle | ||
Men's 1500m freestyle | 16th | |
2012 | Men's 200m freestyle | |
Men's 400m freestyle | ||
Men's 1500m freestyle | 4th | |
2016 | Men's 100m freestyle | 32nd |
Men's 200m freestyle | 29th | |
Men's 400m freestyle | 10th | |
Men's 1500m freestyle | DNS |
2004[]
Discipline | Round | Time |
---|---|---|
400 metres freestyle | Heats | DQ |
Final | Did not advance |
2008[]
Discipline | Round | Time | |
---|---|---|---|
200 metres freestyle | Heats | 1:46.73 | |
Semifinal | 1:45.99 | AR | |
Final | 1:44.85 | AR | |
400 metres freestyle | Heats | 3:43.35 | |
Final | 3:41.86 | AR | |
1500 metres freestyle | Heats | 15:05.55 | |
Final | Did not advance |
2012[]
Discipline | Round | Time | |
---|---|---|---|
200 metres freestyle | Heats | 1:46.79 | |
Semifinal | 1:46.02 | ||
Final | 1:44.93 | ||
400 metres freestyle | Heats | 3:46.68 | |
Final | 3:42.06 | ||
1500 metres freestyle | Heats | 14:56.89 | |
Final | 14:50.61 | NR |
2016[]
Discipline | Round | Time |
---|---|---|
100 metres freestyle | Heats | 49.24 |
Semifinal | Did not advance | |
Final | ||
200 metres freestyle | Heats | 1:48.06 |
Semifinal | Did not advance | |
Final | ||
400 metres freestyle | Heats | 3:45.63 |
Final | Did not advance | |
1500 metres freestyle | Heats | DNS |
Final | Did not advance |
References[]
- ↑ "Park Tae-Hwan's Additional Doping Ban Overturned; Rio Bound", Swimming World Magazine, 8 July 2016. Retrieved on 13 July 2016.
- ↑ "Park Tae-hwan ruled out of Rio Olympics, reports say", NBC Sports, 6 April 2016. Retrieved on 13 August 2023.