American sprinter Michael Johnson, one of the United States' most successful athletes, could lose his Sydney 2000 Olympics 4x400m gold medal after a former relay team mate admitted to doping. Antonio Pettigrew, a member of the Sydney Games gold-winning relay team that also included Johnson and twins Alvin and Calvin Harrison, told a San Fransciso court on Thursday he had used banned substances after the 1996 Olympic trials.
The US 4x400m relay team that won gold at the Sydney Games in 2000 have been stripped of their medals after Antonio Pettigrew admitted to doping, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Saturday. It was the sixth American medal from the Sydney Games lost to doping in the past eight months after US sprinter Marion Jones was stripped of her five medals due to her doping confession last year.
Five-times Olympic champion Michael Johnson will return his final gold medal won in the 2000 Sydney Games 4x400 meters relay after a team mate admitted taking drugs. Antonio Pettigrew testified at the trial of coach Trevor Graham that he had taken banned drugs since the 1996 US trials.
Jamaican Olympic sprint relay gold medallist Nesta Carter has returned an anti-doping violation for the banned stimulant Methylhexanamine after the re-testing of 454 samples from the 2008 Beijing Games, two sources familiar with the case have told Reuters. The Jamaican team of Carter, champion sprinter Usain Bolt and two other sprinters had won a gold medal in the relay at the 2008 Olympics. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said traces of Methylhexanamine were discovered in Carter's "A" sample, part of a batch of 454 from the 2008 Games that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) ordered to be re-tested. Carter could face sanctions only if his "B" sample also tests positive for the substance. Reuters has not seen the laboratory results. Neither Carter, who won gold in the 4x100 metres relay with Jamaican team mates Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell and Michael Frater in Beijing, nor his agent replied to repeated requests for comment.
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