Australia's men's 4x100m freestyle relay team could lose their funding from the Australian Olympic Committee after they used the controversial sleeping pill Stilnox following a late-night bonding session at last year's London Games. All six members of the squad are due to face a newly formed Swimming Australia integrity panel.
Those in question – James Magnussen, Eamon Sullivan, James Roberts, Matt Targett, Tommaso D'Orsogna and Cameron McEvoy – appeared at a fiery media conference in Sydney on Friday. They admitted acting like children in their hotel room but deny their use of the sleeping aid Stilnox – banned by the AOC before the Games – was behind their underwhelming fourth-place finish in London.
The AOC secretary general, Craig Phillips, said each member of the relay team faces a withdrawal of funding as the governing body weighs up possible sanctions. "The AOC will consider what action it will take in the light of these admissions," Phillips said in a statement. "Possible sanctions for a breach of the team agreement might include withdrawing funding from the athletes concerned."
Magnussen entered the Olympics talking himself up as the overwhelming favourite to win 100m freestyle gold but had to settle for silver. The 21-year-old said he deeply regrets his role in what has been described as a "bonding session" as well as the hurt it caused other squad members, who had complained about being disturbed late at night.
"I think one of the reasons that I agreed to go along with this night was I was feeling under so much pressure and it had been building for the best part of a year," Magnussen said. "The chance to sort of bond with these guys and be normal for one night were my intentions of the night.
"Obviously in hindsight it was a ridiculous choice and a ridiculous method to do that by and for that, I have a lot of regrets. But I don't feel it affected my performance."
Stilnox is a prescription drug used to treat insomnia and some brain disorders and it is sometimes prescribed to athletes who are having trouble sleeping before major events. Prescribing it to Australian Olympians was banned just before the London Games. But the relay team said their prescriptions were issued before the ban was announced.
Sullivan, the team's elder statesmen, said the Stilnox use was purely a matter of bonding, which continued a tradition within the Australia team. "Hindsight is a wonderful thing," the 28-year-old said. "Of course I regret our decisions and my decision.
"As a senior member of the team I should've stood up and shown more leadership at the time. For that, I'm truly sorry. If I thought for one moment that these actions and our communal decision to take Stilnox would affect our performance in no way I would've done it."