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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 11:52 a.m., Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Olympics: Track runner agrees to return 2000 Games gold medal

By EDDIE PELLS
AP National Writer

DENVER — Antonio Pettigrew agreed today to 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 track 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 1,600-meter relay was expected, considering his testimony in the Graham trial.

After brief negotiations with the U.S. 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 4x400 relays in 1997 and 1999.

The 40-year-old assistant track coach at North Carolina also accepted a two-year ban from track, 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.

Pettigrew's testimony means that three of the four runners from the U.S. relay team in the 2000 Olympic finals have been tainted by drugs.

Twins Alvin and Calvin Harrison both were suspended for doping violations. Alvin Harrison accepted a four-year ban in 2004 after admitting he used performance enhancers. Calvin Harrison tested positive for a banned stimulant in 2003 and was suspended for two years. Like Pettigrew, they were coached by Graham.

During testimony in the Graham trial, Pettigrew said that once he started taking banned substances, he was able to run 400 meters in the 43-second range for the first time.

"I was running incredible times as I was preparing for track meets," he said. "I was able to recover faster."

The International Olympic Committee tried several years ago to strip the team of their gold medals after teammate Jerome Young, who did not run in the finals, tested positive for doping and was banned for life from track. But a decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport said the entire team should not be disqualified, and Pettigrew was allowed to keep his medal.

Now, that medal is being given back, and so are all the other prizes and awards Pettigrew won over the six-year span during which he admitted to using banned substances.