Antonio Pettigrew admits PED use: HGH and EPO

Olympic gold medal winner Antonio Pettigrew, now a track coach at the University of North Carolina, admitted in the Trevor Graham perjury trial today, he doped his way to the top.  That Pettigrew never flipped a positive urine could be more shocking.   The AP came out with the story first:

Olympic gold-medal sprinter Antonio Pettigrew on Thursday for the first time admitted taking performance-enhancing substances during a long, successful track career in which he passed all drugs tests.

The admission came during testimony in the trial of his former coach Trevor Graham, who is accused of lying to federal authorities investigating doping in sports. Graham has pleaded not guilty.

Pettigrew testified that Graham encouraged him in 1997 to inject human growth hormone and the oxygen-boosting drug EPO, which are both banned in track. Soon after, Pettigrew said, he began buying the drugs from Angel "Memo" Heredia, an admitted steroids dealer from Laredo, Texas.

How good did doping make Pettigrew (see that gold medal 4x400 team in the photo; apparently only Johnson was clean)?

Once he began taking the banned substances, Pettigrew said he was able to run 400 meters in under 43 seconds for the first time.

"I was running incredible times as I was preparing for track meets," Pettigrew said during 30 minutes of testimony. "I was able to recover faster."

Not a double-blind, placebo-controlled study; however, certainly a single case study.  Think of all those high school and college kids close, but unable to break 50 seconds in the 400M.  A course of these drugs, and it's college scholarship.  We do not exaggerate.

Like almost every other doper, Pettigrew denied PED use initially, however saw the light with some federal coercion.

Pettigrew initially lied to federal investigators and denied doping when they first talked to him in February 2005. But he finally confessed to cheating when confronted with documents in October 2006 strongly suggesting drug buys from Heredia.

Pettigrew won a gold medal as part of the 1,600-meter relay team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He retired from track in 2002 and is now an assistant coach at the University of North Carolina.

Pettigrew's corroboration of Heredia's account could appear to be damning to Trevor Graham's defense.  One wonders why these guys don't cop a plea (Clemens, Bonds, Graham) considering the mountain of evidence against them?

Further, a strong argument must be made to strip the medals down from a drug-cheat's wall.  Where are the second place athletes?  The ones who didn't use EPO, or HGH, or nandrolone?  Not with gold medals.  Not assistant coaches at UNC.  A career with a foundation of dope.

Comments

[TWIN]

YOU SEE AL YOU TRACK AND FIELD ATHLETES OUT THERE, THIS IS THE SHIT IM TALKING ABOUT HOW AM I A HARD WORKING ATHLETE IS SUPPOSE TO COMPETE WITH THAT.(human growth hormone and the oxygen-boosting drug EPO)THIS IS Y THE SPORT IS IN TORMIL YOU CAN'T TRUST ANYONE ANYMORE........I MEAN COME-ON RUNNING 43 SEC EVERY TIME YOU TOUCH THE TRACK, THERE HAD TO BE SOMETHING WRONG WITH THAT PIC. BUT FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE BRING HOME THE GOAL WAS MORE IMPORTANT, AND THE NERVE OF HIM TO (JUST A THOUGH) TO TAKE HIS EXPERTISE TO UNC LIKE A GOOD LITTLE SCHOOL BOY F*** THAT ONCE A CHEATER ALWAYS A CHEATER.......BECAUSE WHAT WILL HAPPEN HE WILL BE TEMPTED TO PASS THAT INFO.. TO THE NEXT YOUNG UP AND COMING WHO MIGHT JUST BE A TAD-BIT UNDER 43 SEC...AND BOOOOOOOOOM THE BIGING OF THE END FOR A HONEST ATHLETE.....BUT WHAT THE HELL DARWIN SAID IT BEST (SERVIAL OF THE FITTEST)

[Coach Others]

Please take a year or two and learn to spell and write. I am having a little difficulty in understanding what you are attempting to convey.

Please wait a few years before applying for college admission.

I really do not think you will be competing against any of these student/athletes unless you improve your grammar!

[Hardcore Troubadour]

No one is running the 400 in under 43 seconds. At least until they develop better drugs...

[Wellness]

I find it hard to believe that Michael Johnson is getting away with this. All of this teammates tested positive, Alvin and Calvin Harrison and Antonio, and they have been chasing MJ for years, what human being runs 19.32 in the 200m, impossible without help. Yes MJ never tested positive but look at the other athletes who have been guilty of doping and "never" tested positive. He also falls into that catagory, think about it. These athletes are not stupid, they know how to beat the test. Or better yet, the organizations is covering up these positive test results, let the truth be told for once. We all know that IAAF, WADA and USADA is behind all the cover ups in Track and Field. Because I have some storys about that, that I wont get into. To even clean up this sport, we first need to Clean up house at the top and work yourself down to the athletes. PEOPLE IN POWER IS THE ONES WE NEED TO BE LOOKING AT. Because we have dishonest people in those companies. AND THAT IS THE HONEST TRUST.

[truetrini]

I too believe that Michael Johnson was doping. Look at his times and all these others doping cant even come close to replicating his times!

There is also evidence that those doping recovered faster and had improved times...what makes him so special?

I am also of the belief that the US Track Officials are complicit and have hidden posivite results for a long time.

From Carl Lewis to Maurice Greene and as recently as Justin Gatlin!

Time to come clean, strip the records, make them give back their medals and clean up the sport!

[20/20]

It goes back to the early seventies. I competed in the Southwest Conference and had suspicions when athletes started to drop times tremendously over a one to two year period. Years later competitors from UT admitted to me that teammates were taking enhancing drugs. Additionally, they stated first hand knowledge of Baylor runners as well. I suspect this was happening across the country and was not unique to the Southwest Conference now part of the Big 12. They would have to go back pretty far to discover a point where there was no usage. All records are suspect!

[overhaul]

...and come on; how nobody comment overgrown chin, nose, ears and feets on Michael Phelps? It's HGH all over, perhaps from his childhood. None of his close relatives resembles that appearance.
And You cannot grow those solely by swimm practice, do you?