An Austrian triathlete is being investigated for attempting to bribe a laboratory employee to pass a doping test, local media reported yesterday.

The Kurier newspaper reported that Lisa Huetthaler, 24, offered an employee in the Seibersdorf laboratory euro20,000 (US$31,150) on May 21 to guarantee that her "B" sample didn't return with the same result as her initial positive for EPO.

Erich Habitzl, spokesman for the public prosecutor's office in the city of Wiener Neustadt, was cited by the Austria Press Agency as saying that an investigation was under way.

Huetthaler's lawyer maintains his client's innocence.