On July 16, according to a number of South Korean media reports, Park Tae-hwan, a famous swimmer in South Korea, was unfortunately infected with new crown pneumonia when recording a variety show recently, and is currently undergoing self-isolation at home. For Park Tae-hwan, who has not participated in the official competition for almost two years, fate is really too cruel.
According to the report, Park Tae-hwan was infected when he participated in the recording of JTBC's new variety show "Unity Can Kick 2", after the volleyball player Kim Yoo-han was diagnosed with new crown pneumonia, and then the swimmer Park Tae-hwan and judo player Yoo Dong-sik who contacted him were also diagnosed with new crown pneumonia. TaiHuan felt abnormal on July 15, and after being examined at the relevant hospital, he was diagnosed with the new crown virus and is currently self-isolating at home. Also infected is supermodel Han Huizhen.
Since winning gold in the men's 400m freestyle at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Park Tae-hwan has been seen as an iconic figure in The Korean swimming scene. Since Sun Yang made a name for himself at the 2011 Shanghai Swimming World Championships, he and Park Tae-huan have been like a pair of old enemies, starting a long-distance competition in the men's swimming arena for several years. Although the two have fierce competition with each other, and the media and swimming fans in China and South Korea have also been fierce, the two have a good personal relationship, because some intimate moves are also jokingly called "good friends" by fans.
For example, at the Incheon Asian Games, the two often wear the same swim trunks, when it was time for Park Tae-hwan's birthday, Sun Yang even specially ordered a cake to be delivered to the scene, and in front of the camera camera, Sun Yang actually smeared the cake on Park Tae-hwan's face without anyone, which was reported by the media. Compared with the "yin and yang face" Australian swimmer Horton, the relationship between Sun Yang and Park Tae-hwan does not know how close.
However, it was also from that year's Asian Games that Park Tae-hwan was exposed to the drug ban scandal, and his career trajectory plummeted. After his ban, he was directly dumped by SBS anchor Zhang Yiyuan, and all three medals at the Incheon Asian Games were withdrawn. The Rio Olympics were arbitrated to participate, but they were eliminated in the 400-meter freestyle preliminaries, and the 2017 Swimming World Championships missed the top three, and then only won some places in the short pool swimming World Cup and the Korean Sports Conference swimming competition. The last time Park Tae-hwan competed in an official competition was at the South Korean National Sports Convention in October 2019.
Although he has not announced his retirement, he has basically focused his energy on Korean variety shows. With his tall figure and handsome appearance, Park Tae-hwan has a good attention in various variety shows. But unexpectedly, in this field, Park Tae-hwan is still suffering a blow, and I have to say that fate is too cruel for Park Tae-hwan.