Former US sprinter found dead

Raleigh, North Carolina:  Former world 400-metre champion Antonio Pettigrew has been found dead, the university where he worked as a coach said on Tuesday.

Pettigrew, who is survived by his wife and son, had been an assistant athletics coach at the University of North Carolina for four the past four seasons.

"Although we are still learning the circumstances, we are deeply saddened to learn of Antonio's death," Dick Baddour, the school's athletic director, said of the 1991 world champion.

"I was particularly impressed with the relationships he established with his student-athletes and the pride he took in representing the university."

The 42-year-old Pettigrew, who was stripped of an Olympic gold medal after admitting to doping, was found unresponsive by friends in the back seat of his vehicle in Chatham County in central North Carolina early on Tuesday.

"Chatham deputies and [emergency management services] arrived and found Pettigrew was deceased with no apparent trauma," Chatham County officials said in a statement.

The officials said there were indications Pettigrew may have taken a sleep aid but were unclear if that caused a role in his death.

A spokeswoman for the state Chief Medical Examiners office told Reuters an autopsy is incomplete.

Pettigrew helped the United States win the 2000 Olympic gold medal and three world titles in the 4x400metre relay but relinquished the Olympic gold and two of the world relay medals after admitting to using performance-enhancing substances.

FACTfile

• Born November 3, 1967 in Macon, Georgia, United States.
• Occupation: Assistant athletics coach, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
• Surprise winner of 1991 world 400 metres
• Helps US win 1997, 1999, 2001 world 4x400metre relay titles but returns 1997 and 1999 medals after doping admission
• Runs on 2000 Olympic gold-medal winning 4x400 metres relay team but later returns medal after admitting to doping
• Admits at 2008 trial of banned coach Trevor Graham he used banned substance erythropoietin (EPO) and human growth hormone (HGH) between 1997 and 2003