WORLD SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS: MELBOURNE
IAN Thorpe said he had never used performance-enhancing drugs and was confident of being cleared of any doping offences after a sample taken last year showed unusually high levels of naturally-occurring hormones.
The Australian five-time Olympic champion said he had no idea why the random out-of-competition test, taken in May before his retirement from swimming, had produced an irregular result.
“I have never cheated and have always complied with my obligations under the anti-doping codes to the letter,” Thorpe said in a prepared statement which he read to a packed news conference in Melbourne.
“ASADA (Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority) were at pains to reassure me that I have not failed a drug test and they made it clear to me that any suggestion that is being made to this effect is just plain wrong.
“I have complete confidence that all the medical and scientific evidence will establish that I am clean.”
Thorpe, regarded as one of the greatest swimmers of all time, said he was in a state of shock when he was told about the allegations, which were published in a French newspaper on Friday.
He was still red-eyed and occasionally struggled to contain his emotions as he answered question.
“I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to react,” he said.
“I was physically shaking because I didn't understand it. It's gut-wrenching, it really is.
No comments:
Post a Comment