American sprinter Antonio Pettigrew, who was part of Team USA's gold-medal winning 1600-meter relay team at the 2000 Olympics, admitted under oath today that
he used performance-enhancing drugs from 1997 to 2001. According to the rules governing international sports, that should result in Team USA being stripped of its gold medal, and the silver medal winners, Nigeria, being awarded the gold.
That 2000 relay has been controversial almost since Team USA crossed the finish line first in Sydney. There were always whispers about doping in American track, and in 2004, another member of the American relay team, Jerome Young, was found to have used performance-enhancing drugs, and Nigeria was awarded the gold.
But the rest of the American runners on that relay team -- including Pettigrew -- appealed the ruling and won, meaning they got to keep their gold and
Nigeria had to settle for keeping the silver.
05-22-2008, 09:32 PM
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