Olympic champion O'Neill took sleeping tab

Gold medal swimmer Susie O'Neill has admitted taking a sleeping tablet the night before a disappointing result at the Sydney Olympics.

In an interview for "Olympians: Off the Record", which will air on 7Two on Monday, O'Neill also claims her use of sleeping tablets may have prompted others in the team to start taking them, News Corp publications reported on Saturday.

"Before then, I'd never heard of anyone taking a sleeping tablet," she said.

The 41-year-old also tells the television interviewer she threw out most of her swimming medals - apart from a gold medal - and tore up Commonwealth Games records after her retirement in a "cleansing thing".