Thorpe drops defamation suit against French paper

SYDNEY (AP) - Five-time Olympic swimming champion Ian Thorpe has dropped a defamation case against the publisher of a French newspaper and a journalist over doping claims because neither of the defendants responded to the claims.

Thorpe was suing the French newspaper L'Equipe, its publisher, and journalist Damien Ressiot, in an Australian court over an article published in March 2007 during the world swimming championships in Melbourne. The newspaper claimed Thorpe gave a urine sample in May 2006 which showed abnormal levels of testosterone.