Antonio Pettigrew

Antonio Pettigrew was a one-lap specialist, who won four NCAA D2 titles in the 400 metres, and who won the 1991 World Championships at 400 metres, adding a silver medal in the 4×400 relay that year as well. Pettigrew initially won a gold medal in the 4×400 at the 1999 World Championships, seemingly adding an Olympic gold in the event at the 2000 Sydney Games. But in 2008 documents were exposed in the trial of coach Trevor Graham which implicated Pettigrew as having used performance-enhancing drugs in the 1990s. Pettigrew admitted this and testified against Graham. His gold medals, and the team’s performances, at the 1999 World Championships and 2000 Olympic Games, were stripped and they were disqualified. Pettigrew served as an assistant track coach at the University of North Carolina. In August 2010, Pettigrew was found dead in his car near Jordan Lake, not far from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. His death was later determined to be a suicide from a drug overdose.

Personal Bests: 100 – 10.42 (1994); 200 – 20.38 (1994); 400 – 44.21 (1999).