A South Korean doctor was fined US$847 yesterday for injecting swimming star Park Tae-hwan with steroids, an incident which resulted in an 18-month ban for the former Olympic champion.
The doctor, identified only by her surname, Kim, was found guilty of breaching the medical code, but cleared of the more serious charge of causing Park bodily harm.
Park, 25, faces missing next year’s Rio Olympics after he failed a drugs test in September last year and was later banned for 18 months by world body FINA.
The doctor told the court she had been “victimized as a scapegoat” ahead of the FINA hearing as the four-time Olympic medalist fought to clear his name.
She said that despite an earlier denial from his management team, Park was well aware he was receiving male hormone and vitamin injections when he visited her hospital in December 2013 and July last year.
“After these two occasions, Park himself selected injections and I thought both his agents and Park were well in control,” she said last month in her final testimony.
The doctor injected Park, known as “Marine Boy,” with the steroid Nebido to boost his testosterone levels, which were lower than average, her lawyer said.
Kim was fined 1 million won (US$847) for failing to log the injections on her patients’ records, which is a breach of South Korea’s medical code. She is free to continue her practice.
Park, who won 400m freestyle gold and 200m freestyle silver at the 2008 Olympics, tested positive for a banned anabolic steroid in out-of-competition controls before last year’s Asian Games in Incheon.
Park was a poster-boy for the Asian Games, where the swimming events were held in the ‘Park Tae-hwan Aquatics Centre,’ but he failed to win a title in front of his home fans.
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