Swimming chief defends Thorpe in drugs probe

Swimming Australia have defended Ian Thorpe following allegations a 2006 dope test showed abnormally high levels of banned substances.

The claims against the five-time Olympic champion were made by French sports daily L’Equipe on Friday.

FINA, the world governing body for swimming, later confirmed in a statement 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.

In a statement, FINA said they had sought CAS help “with the aim of clarifying the issues surrounding this case”.

Swimming Australia’s executive director Glenn Tasker quickly leapt to the defence of Thorpe in the wake of the allegations, referring to the test results as an “adverse finding”.

He said: “I will support Ian 1000%.

“Those people who know Ian will know that whatever this finding is there will be a reason for it but I know Ian is vehemently opposed to any sort of performance-enhancing drug.

“He is a young man of unbelievably strong principles and integrity and I’ve known him for a long time.

“All these things have a backlash effect. At this minute there isn’t a positive test, it’s an adverse finding. Ian Thorpe is a young man of unbelievably strong principles and integrity.

“Hopefully reasonable-thinking people will accept that for what it is and they won’t be hanging anyone until the judge has made his decision.

“If it is Ian Thorpe, then somebody has leaked that information, his privacy has been grossly invaded and it’s not good for that athlete, but it’s not good for any athlete around the world.”

Australian Prime Minister John Howard also gave Thorpe his backing.

“I don’t intend to react to, let alone endorse, unsubstantiated allegations in a French newspaper,” Howard said.

“As far as I’m concerned, until solid evidence of the contrary is produced Ian Thorpe remains a great Australian champion.”

Since May last year, Thorpe has been tested three times by FINA with out-of-competition tests held on July 29, August 28 and November 10.

Thorpe is Australia’s most successful Olympian, having won five gold medals at the Sydney and Athens Games. He announced his retirement from the sport, aged just 24, in November 2006.