The International Olympic Committee (IOC) stripped gold medals yesterday from the US men’s 4x400m relay team that competed at the 2000 Olympics in the aftermath of Antonio Pettigrew’s admission that he was doping at the time.
The IOC executive board disqualified the entire team, the fourth gold and sixth overall medal stripped from that US track contingent in the past eight months for doping.
Three gold and two bronze were previously removed after Marion Jones confessed to using performance-enhancing drugs.
Yesterday’s decision was almost a formality after Pettigrew gave up his gold medal in June. During a trial involving former track coach Trevor Graham, he admitted in May that he used EPO and human growth hormone from 1997 to 2003.
Five of Pettigrew’s teammates also lose their medals: Michael Johnson and twins Alvin and Calvin Harrison ran in the final; Jerome Young and Angelo Taylor ran in the preliminaries.
It was Johnson’s fifth gold medal of his stellar career. He has already said he was giving it back because he felt “cheated, betrayed and let down” by Pettigrew’s testimony. Johnson still holds world records in the 200m and 400m.
Three of the four runners from the relay final have been tainted by drugs.
Alvin Harrison accepted a four-year ban in 2004 after admitting he used performance-enhancers. Calvin Harrison tested positive for a banned stimulant in 2003 and was suspended for two years. Young was banned for life for doping violations.
“We support the action taken today by the IOC,” US Olympic Committee spokesman Darryl Seibel said. “Athletes who make the unacceptable choice to cheat should recognize that there will be consequences. Those consequences can be severe, including the loss of medals and results. We’re in full support of this action. In other matters like this in the past we’ve worked with the IOC to make certain medals will be returned and we’ll do so again.”
The IOC also disqualified Pettigrew from his seventh-place finish in the individual 400m in Sydney. The committee also banned him from attending the upcoming Beijing Games “in any capacity,” including as a competitor, coach or technical official. Pettigrew has retired from competition and the US Olympic Committee said there had been no plans for him to come to Beijing.
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