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Park, the first Korean to win an Olympic swimming medal when
he won gold in the 400 freestyle gold in Beijing, completed an
18-month ban imposed by world governing body FINA in March after
testing positive for testosterone ahead of the 2014 Asian Games.
However, under a controversial Korean Olympic Committee
regulation, he was then hit with an additional three-year ban
from the national team the day the FINA suspension expired,
effectively ruling him out of contention for the Rio Olympics.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport cleared the 26-year-old to
compete at the Aug. 5-21 Games only last week, upholding his
appeal against the KOC ban.
"I know I haven't had much time to prepare, but I've been
training really hard over that short period of time," Park was
quoted as saying by the Yonhap News Agency.
"I believe my hard work will pay off and I will be able to put
together good performances. The most important thing will be to
compete with confidence."
Entangled in legal battles, Park has been able to compete in
only two events this year -- the South Korean time-trials in
April and the Australia Grand Prix earlier this month, where he
finished fourth in the 200 meters freestyle final.
"I am worried about it (lack of competitive events), but I don't
want to make it an excuse for not doing well at the Olympics,"
he said.
"I know I haven't had much time to prepare, but I've been
training really hard over that short period of time."
(Reporting by Nivedita Shankar in Bengaluru; editing by Sudipto
Ganguly)
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