Olympic Swimming 2012: Park Tae-Hwan Reinstated After Controversial DQ

Update: South Korean swimmer Park Tae-Hwan, the 400-meter men's world champion, has been reinstated as a finalist in Saturday evening's Olympic 400 race, according to the London Guardian.

Park, the 2008 Olympic champion in this event, was disqualified earlier Saturday for what was ruled as a false start in a qualifying race. South Korea's Olympic officials appealed the ruling and won their appeal.

It was stunning to see Park DQ'd, not only because he is the king of this race, but also because the 400-meter swim is one of the Games' longest swim events. There is almost zero advantage to be gained from getting a quicker start than one's competitor, particularly in a qualifying heat.

The Australian reported these reactions to Park's disqualification:

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A confused Park said he did not know why he was disqualified and Ian Thorpe, the dual Olympic champion who is commentating for the BBC in London, said he believed Park was blameless. He speculated that the "super sensitive” new starting blocks were responsible.

"

With his reinstatement, Park is sure to be in the mix for the gold medal, provided he doesn't false start. Oddly enough, as the Australian website noted, Park was DQ'd for a false start in an Olympic 400-meter heat in 2004, when he was 14. The site says he was so embarrassed that he hid in a bathroom afterward.

A GIF of the start from this morning doesn't seem to show Park false-starting. He's in Lane 4. Judge for yourself:

Previously posted:

South Korea's Park Tae-Hwan was disqualified from the men's 400-meter freestyle event on Saturday morning.

According to Matthew Kitchen of NBC Sports:

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Men’s 400m freestyle favorite Park Tae-Hwan from South Korea has been disqualified for a false start during Saturday morning's preliminary race.

The South Korean Federation is meeting with the FINA Bureau at 2:30 p.m. London time to review the appeal. No video will be admissible as evidence during the appeal, which makes little to no sense. 

Canadian Ryan Cochrane will slide into the eighth and last spot in the 400m free finals and NBC's Jason Devaney has confirmed that the referee who DQ'd Park was indeed Canadian. He stands by his ruling.

"

Park, who is the defending 400-meter freestyle Olympic gold medalist and 2011 World Champion, was expected to compete for a second consecutive gold in the event.

Considering that Park was disqualified by a Canadian judge and that a Canadian competitor took his place, it won't be a surprise if this controversy escalate. With the final of the men's 400 free slated to begin at 2:51 p.m. EDT, there is fortunately time to clear the air on the situation. 

Still, it appears that Park will have to narrow his focus toward his other freestyle competitions.

A silver medalist in the 200 free during the Beijing Olympics and in the 1500 free at the 2009 Asian Games, Park still has a solid opportunity to win multiple medals in London.

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