WADA furious over ‘unacceptable’ Thorpe leak

THE World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) have criticised the handling of doping allegations against Australian star Ian Thorpe, claiming confidentiality was breached by revealing his name prematurely.

French sports newspaper L’Equipe reported that the five-time Olympic champion showed unusually high levels of naturally occurring hormones when tested by the Australian Sport Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) last year.

FINA, world swimming’s governing body, confirmed in a statement on Saturday that they have referred a doping case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) but stopped short of citing Thorpe as the focus of the investigation.

Thorpe, who is now retired, has vowed to clear his name.

But WADA are unhappy that Thorpe’s name entered the public domain in the first place and yesterday described FINA and ASADA’s “apparent naming” of Thorpe as “unacceptable”.

A WADA statement read: “The World Anti-Doping Agency today expressed its great concern and disappointment following a serious breach of confidentiality that occurred as part of the FINA World Championships in Melbourne, Australia.

“WADA is especially shocked that the name of an athlete was apparently given to the media while no adverse analytical finding has been determined at this point.’’

Meanwhile American star Michael Phelps celebrated his record-breaking exploits at the World Championships in Melbourne — where he won his seventh gold medal on the final day — by vowing to continue to make more history in the pool.

He said; “I’m hitting my peak. I have more goals to do, more things to accomplish and I’m not stopping until they are done.

“I want to be one of the greatest swimmers of all time.”

He quickly recovered from the relay setback to set the landmark in the 400m medley and smash another world record to boot.

The American came home in four minutes 06.22 seconds – beating his previous record set at the Athens Olympics by more than two seconds to earn his place in the record books.