Antonio Pettigrew, who was stripped of an Olympic gold medal for using performance-enhancing drugs, died of an overdose of an antihistamine used in sleeping aids, according to an autopsy report. The medical examiner ruled the death a suicide.
The autopsy report states that he died of a "lethal concentration of diphenhydramine" (the same medication found in Benadryl). The investigators found an empty bottle of Unisom, a sleeping aid in which diphenhydramine is an ingredient, in victim's car.
Pettigrew was part of the 4x400-meter relay team that won gold at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Two years ago, the International Olympic Committee stripped him and other team members of their medals after he testified in federal court that he took human growth hormone and EPO, which boosts oxygen, between 1997 and 2001.
1 comment:
What a shame. Condolences to his family. Of all the positive things he probably accomplished in his life, he's remembered in the news for being stripped of a gold medal.
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