South Korean Olympic swimming gold medalist Park Tae-hwan, serving an extended suspension following a positive drug test, was decidedly non-committal about his future on Friday.
Facing the press for the first time since getting slapped with an 18-month ban by FINA, the international swimming federation, earlier this week, Park said it was premature to talk about competing in the future.
Park said he was so devastated about the positive test last year that he briefly contemplated retirement but added it was “inappropriate” for him to talk about his future after disappointing so many people.
“I think it’s important for me to first apologize to the people I’ve let down and take time for some self-introspection,” Park said. “Swimming is everything to me. It’s all I’ve ever done and not being able to compete is hugely shocking. It’s as if my whole life has been taken away from me in an instant. It makes it difficult for me to think about retirement at this point.”
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