Korean Oly body could give banned swimmer Park shot at Rio

China's Sun Yang presents South Korea's Park Tae-hwan (L) with a birthday cake at the Munhak Park Tae-hwan Aquatics Center during the 17th Asian Games in Incheon September 26, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

Park Tae-hwan is the only South Korean swimmer who to have won an Olympic medal and has been one of the most popular athletes in the country.

The recent doping scandal appears to have damaged Park's public image irrevocably. In suspending Park, FINA also took away the six medals he won in last year's Asian Games in the South Korean town of Incheon, which had even named the swimming venue for the games after Park.

Incheon official Lee Jae-keun said that the city may consider renaming the Park Tae-hwan Swimming Pool if the public opinion on Park continues to deteriorate.

Following the announcement of his suspension, Park's management released a statement apologizing for the public disappointment caused by the scandal.

Lee Kee-heung, president of the Korean Swimming Federation, said he has demanded Park to personally address the public in a news conference.

When the positive test was made public in January, Park's representatives blamed it on an injection administered by a local hospital, which offered him free chiropractic and other treatments in July.

Park told investigators he was given the injection without knowing what specific substances it contained, while the hospital said it didn't know testosterone was a prohibited substance.

Park is the latest in a long list of accomplished swimmers to be handed doping bans recently, with Chinese rival Sun Yang - a two-time Olympic champion - having served a three-month suspension last year.