Hackett denies sleeping pill cost him Beijing gold
Source: AFP |
July 21, 2012, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
RETIRED Australian swimming great Grant Hackett has refuted his former coach's claim that a strong sleeping pill now banned by Australia's Olympic Committee cost him a third consecutive 1,500 meters freestyle gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Games.
Hackett's former coach Denis Cotterell said earlier this month that he blamed the use of Stilnox for the swimmer's "lack of clarity" in the final at Beijing.
"In 12 years of racing international 1500m freestyles across Olympic, world championships and Commonwealth Games, I managed to lose twice, and that's one of those races," Hackett told a local radio station. "I just thought, that's a load of rubbish. The person that should be blamed, the person who had the poor race strategy that day, was myself. Was I asleep? Was I affected by Stilnox? That's just a load of rubbish."
Hackett had said earlier that he had become reliant on Stilnox after being prescribed the drug during his career and described it as "evil." Cotterell trained Hackett to consecutive gold medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and Athens four years later before they parted ways in 2007. Hackett's admission prompted the Australian Olympic Committee to ban all of its athletes from taking strong sedatives, a move slammed by current and former Olympians.
Hackett's former coach Denis Cotterell said earlier this month that he blamed the use of Stilnox for the swimmer's "lack of clarity" in the final at Beijing.
"In 12 years of racing international 1500m freestyles across Olympic, world championships and Commonwealth Games, I managed to lose twice, and that's one of those races," Hackett told a local radio station. "I just thought, that's a load of rubbish. The person that should be blamed, the person who had the poor race strategy that day, was myself. Was I asleep? Was I affected by Stilnox? That's just a load of rubbish."
Hackett had said earlier that he had become reliant on Stilnox after being prescribed the drug during his career and described it as "evil." Cotterell trained Hackett to consecutive gold medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and Athens four years later before they parted ways in 2007. Hackett's admission prompted the Australian Olympic Committee to ban all of its athletes from taking strong sedatives, a move slammed by current and former Olympians.
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