Olympic swimmers took banned drug

It was pretty obvious from even here on the other side of the globe, that our Olympians in London had a real problem. There was shooter Mark whining about not being able to sleep with his wife, the rower who got blind and smashed windows at a local business, Dumb and dumber D'Arcy and Monk, D'Arcy being a bankrupt to get out of paying compensation to the swimmer he bashed, and Monk who fell off his skateboard and told the cops it was a hit and run, amongst other things. Many here were scratching their heads in a collective WTF?

And now, although it was obvious last year but nobody would admit it, Australian swimmers have admitted to taking a banned substance in a "bonding session". Stilnox had been used in the past but was banned by the Australian Olympic Committee weeks before, as previous athletes had been in the news saying that when they left swimming they were addicted to Stilnox. But still, they went ahead and took it, claiming that it was just "childish behaviour".

Which confirms my assertions about them at the time; that they were acting like a bunch of schoolies who'd failed to grow up, not highly trained athletes at an Olympic event. It was an abysmal performance before they'd even gotten in the pool, particularly considering the amount of public money that had been spent on them. In doing this they showed a lack of respect for the public money and efforts of people around them that had gotten them to this point.

Eamon Sullivan apologised for being a ringleader as he and five other top Australian swimmers admitted lying about taking a banned drug before the London Olympics.

All six men's freestyle relay swimmers, including world champion James Magnussen, could be banned from future Olympics for their abuse of the banned sedative Stilnox.

Sullivan, Magnussen, Tommaso D'Orsogna, Cameron McEvoy and Matthew Targett all admitted on Friday they took the sedative during a bonding session at a pre-Olympics camp.

A sixth member of the relay squad, James Roberts, denied taking Stilnox.

But he was present when the five other swimmers each took one pill of the sleeping drug about 10 days before the London Olympics began.

Sullivan and Targett provided the Stilnox and all swimmers knew the drug had been banned by the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) just weeks prior.

The five swimmers took the drug in what they thought was "harmless fun" and the continuance of initiation rituals into the relay team. more