Former US sprinter Antonio Pettigrew will return the Olympic relay gold medal he won in 2000 after admitting to doping during the Sydney Games.
During last month’s trial involving former athletics coach Trevor Graham, Pettigrew came clean about using EPO and human growth hormone from 1997 to 2003. Graham was found guilty of lying to federal investigators about his relationship to a steroids dealer.
Pettigrew’s decision to give up the gold for the 4x400m relay was expected, considering his testimony in the Graham trial.
After brief negotiations with the US Anti-Doping Agency, the agreement was made public. Pettigrew gave back the medal and all the other prizes he’d earned since 1997, including world championships in the 4x400m relays in 1997 and 1999.
The 40-year-old assistant track coach at University of North Carolina also accepted a two-year ban from athletics, though that point is largely symbolic given his age.
He retired from track in 2002.
Pettigrew’s decision came a day after one of his relay teammates at the Sydney Olympics, Michael Johnson, said he would voluntarily give his medal back in the wake of Pettigrew’s testimony.
“I feel cheated, betrayed and let down,” Johnson wrote in a column in Tuesday’s Daily Telegraph.
IOC officials said they will seek official verification of Pettigrew’s admission and wait for the International Association of Athletics Federations to nullify the US gold medal result. After that, the IOC could officially disqualify the team and strip all the medals.
The IOC would then also consider whether to upgrade the Nigerian team, which finished second, to the gold medal.
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