Antonio Pettigrew

Antonio Pettigrew (November 3, 1967 – August 10, 2010) was an American sprinter who specialized in the 400 meters. He was born in Macon, Georgia.

While attending St. Augustine's College in Raleigh, North Carolina, he was a four-time NCAA Division II champion in the 400 meter race. He came to prominence at the 1991 World Championships, 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 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 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 U.S. 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, 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 by overdosing on a medication containing diphenhydramine. Pettigrew was an assistant coach at the University of North Carolina at the time of his death.