Olympic swimming champion Park Tae-hwan left an army training center Wednesday after completing four weeks of basic training.

With the completion of boot camp, he met his active military service requirement. Related laws exempt Olympic medalists from full military service, requiring them only to undergo four weeks of basic training.

The 23-year-old is the first Asian swimmer to win a gold medal in the 400-meter freestyle.

“I will try to show to my fans that I am further grown up through military training,” Park said to reporters and dozens of fans outside the training center in Nonsan, South Chungcheong Province. “I will begin swimming practice in the near future, but the first thing to think about now is recovering from a cold before working on specific plans.”

By Chun Sung-woo (swchun@heraldcorp.com)