South Korean swimmer Park Tae-hwan has taken his appeal against an Olympic ban to the world's top sports tribunal, officials confirmed Saturday.

Team GMP, Park's agency, said the swimmer asked the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for arbitration on April 26 over a Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) rule barring him from competing at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics.

The agency said, however, Park asked the procedure be put on hold two days later, so that he could speak to the KOC one last time before taking further steps. Park is scheduled to meet with KOC representatives on May 25.

Park, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist in the men's 400m freestyle, has been ruled out of the Rio Games because of his recent doping history. 

The KOC stipulates that athletes who've served doping bans aren't eligible to represent the country for three years, starting on the day that their suspensions end.

Park's ban over a positive drug test began retroactively in September 2014 and ended in March this year.

A KOC official said the CAS on Thursday informed the South Korean organization of Park's application for arbitration, and asked the KOC to let the CAS know of its stance within five days.

"The CAS said it would send us additional documents," the official added. "We'll be able to get back to the CAS after we review them."

Despite his Rio ban, Park chose to compete at the final Olympic trials last month and won the 100m, 200m, 400m and 1,500m freestyle races.

He also met the Olympic "A" standards set by FINA, the international swimming governing body, in all four, and would have qualified for Rio if not for the KOC rule.

On Wednesday, the Korea Swimming Federation left Park off its preliminary Olympic team.

The KOC has maintained that it wouldn't create exceptions for any particular athlete, but it has come under mounting pressure to alter its stance in the aftermath of Park's victories at the Olympic trials.

Critics say the KOC is unfairly punishing Park twice for the same offense, and the principle of double punishment runs counter to international standards.

In 2011, the CAS handed down a decision against the "Osaka Rule," which barred athletes who had served a doping-related suspension for at least half a year from competing at the following Olympic Games.

The deadline to submit the final Olympic swimming roster is July 18. (Yonhap)