South Korean Olympic champion Park Tae-hwan has admitted that life has been "hell" for him after he tested positive for a banned substance.

The 25-year-old has been banned from competing for 18 months after testosterone was found in a drugs test before the Incheon 2014 Asian Games.

The suspension has been backdated to September 3, 2014, which means that he could be eligible to compete at the Rio Olympics next year as his ban will end on March 3, 2016.

"The last few months since the doping results came out have been hell," insidethegames.biz quotes Park as saying. "When I first heard that I had tested positive I thought for sure it must be some mistake.

"I thought, 'why did this happen to me? What if I didn't go to that hospital? What if I didn't let the doctor inject me?' If I could only go back in time."

Included in the punishment, Park has been stripped of his one silver and five bronze Asian Games medals.