Swimming:Australia's most decorated Olympian Ian Thorpe has rubbished reports he has used performance enhancing drugs and is confident he will be cleared of the allegations against him.
The retired swimming star, who dominated the sport for eight years, was reported by French newspaper L'Equipeto have shown unusually high levels of naturally-occurring hormones in a test last year.
FINA, the world governing body for swimming, 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.
But 24-year-old Thorpe refuted the allegations on Sunday and is confident he will be cleared of any wrongdoing.
"I have never cheated and I pride myself on my record," Thorpe said.
"I firmly believe I am clean, I have never cheated and have always fulfilled my obligations. My reputation has already been tarnished and it is the hardest thing to take.
"I believe there will be an innocent explanation for it all. My doctor is preparing a list of all the medicines I might have taken at that time."