Antonio Pettigrew was an American sprinter who specialized in the 400 meters. He was born in Macon, Georgia

Macon, Georgia

Macon is a city located in central Georgia, US. Founded at the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is part of the Macon metropolitan area, and the county seat of Bibb County. A small portion of the city extends into Jones County. Macon is the biggest city in central Georgia...

.

While attending St. Augustine's College

St. Augustine's College (Raleigh)

Saint Augustine's College is a historically black college located in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. The college was founded in 1867 in Raleigh, North Carolina by prominent Episcopal clergy for the education of freed slaves.- History :...

 in Raleigh

Raleigh, North Carolina

Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...

, North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

, he was a four-time NCAA Division II champion in the 400 meter race. He came to prominence at the 1991 World Championships

1991 World Championships in Athletics

The 3rd World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held in the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Japan between August 23 and September 1 and athletes from 167 countries participated in the event.The event is best-remembered for the...

, where he won the 400 m gold medal and a silver medal in the 4 x 400 meters relay.

At the Summer Olympics in Sydney 2000, Pettigrew threw his gold medal-winning Adidas spikes into the crowd after winning the 4 x 400m final for the USA.

In 2008, prosecution documents related to the trial of coach Trevor Graham

Trevor Graham

Trevor Graham is a Jamaican-born former athletics coach, based in the United States. Following the BALCO scandal, the US Olympic Committee barred him indefinitely from all its training sites as a number of the athletes he was training had tested positive for drug abuse.-Athletics career:Graham was...

 listed Pettigrew as one of Graham's athletes to have used performance-enhancing drugs. Pettigrew then admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs and testified against Graham at his trial in May 2008. Although IAAF

International Association of Athletics Federations

The International Association of Athletics Federations is the international governing body for the sport of athletics. It was founded in 1912 at its first congress in Stockholm, Sweden by representatives from 17 national athletics federations as the International Amateur Athletics Federation...

 rules currently do not retroactively alter results more than eight years after the event, Pettigrew returned the medals he won in that period. The 2000 Sydney Olympics 4 × 400 m relay US team was stripped of their medals after Pettigrew admitted that he had used performance-enhancing drugs. He received a two-year athletics ban in 2008, although he had already retired from the track.

Pettigrew was found dead in the back seat of his locked car in Chatham County, North Carolina

Chatham County, North Carolina

Chatham County is a county located in the Piedmont area of the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2000, the population was 49,329. Its county seat is Pittsboro.-History:...

, on August 10, 2010, and evidence of sleeping pills was found by police. On October 13, an autopsy report stated that he had committed suicide

Suicide

Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

 by overdosing on a medication containing diphenhydramine

Diphenhydramine

Diphenhydramine hydrochloride is a first-generation antihistamine possessing anticholinergic, antitussive, antiemetic, and sedative properties which is mainly used to treat allergies. Like most other first-generation antihistamines, the drug also has a powerful hypnotic effect, and for this reason...

. Pettigrew was an assistant coach at the University of North Carolina

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...

 at the time of his death.

Personal bests

Event	Time (seconds)	Venue	Date
100 meters 100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-metre dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, it is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896...	10.42	Unknown	1994
200 meters 200 metres A 200 metres race is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 m track, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques are needed to successfully run the race. A slightly shorter race, called the stadion and run on a straight track, was the first...	20.38	Durham, North Carolina Durham, North Carolina Durham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County and also extends into Wake County. It is the fifth-largest city in the state, and the 85th-largest in the United States by population, with 228,330 residents as of the 2010 United States census... , United States	April 9, 1994
300 meters	32.33	Jerez de la Frontera Jerez de la Frontera Jerez de la Frontera is a municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, situated midway between the sea and the mountains. , the city, the largest in the province, had 208,896 inhabitants; it is the fifth largest in Andalusia... , Spain	September 13, 1989
400 meters 400 metres The 400 metres, or 400 metre dash, is a common sprinting event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 . On a standard outdoor running track, it is exactly one lap around the track. Runners start in staggered positions and...	44.27	Houston, Texas Houston, Texas Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ... , United States	June 17, 1989

• All information from IAAF Profile.

See also

• BALCO scandal
  BALCO Scandal
  The BALCO scandal is a scandal involving the use of banned, performance-enhancing substances by professional athletes. The Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative was a San Francisco Bay Area business accused of supplying steroids to Major League Baseball players...
  
  
• List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences

External links