Pettigrew to remain on UNC track staff

Antonio Pettigrew, an assistant men’s and women’s track coach at North Carolina, will remain on the staff this year, the school confirmed Friday afternoon.

In May, Pettigrew testified in a federal court in San Francisco that he took human growth hormone and EPO, which boosts oxygen,  between 1997-2001. Pettigrew won a gold medal on the 4x400 relay in the 2000 Olympics but returned the medal in June.

Pettigrew is a 1993 graduate of St. Augustine’s and joined the UNC staff before the 2006-07 season. He had previously coached at St. Aug’s and at Cardinal Gibbons High School.

“After extensive deliberations, I have decided that although we do not condone the actions Antonio participated in for a time as a competitive athlete, he is remorseful and is now in a position to speak out against the dangers and consequences of using illegal substances,” UNC Director of Athletics Dick Baddour said in a statement. “The University of North Carolina has one of the most, if not the most, stringent anti-performance enhancing substance policies in all of amateur or professional sports. However, his actions were a number of years ago, were not done when he was a member of our staff, and he has never encouraged or promoted the use of banned substances to any of our student-athletes.

Baddour said UNC track coach Dennis Craddock and some of the Carolina athletes have spoken in Pettigrew’s favor.

“What I did was 100 percent wrong,” Pettigrew said in a statement. “There is no excusing that. I regret my actions and am embarrassed for what they have done to my family, teammates, country and the sport of track and field.

“I know I have an obligation and duty to speak out against the use of banned substances. I want to play a role in teaching people, especially young athletes, to know that the negatives far, far outweigh the benefits these substances may give you.”

Craddock, in a statement, said Pettigrew “has done an extraordinary job of teaching and coaching our young men and women for the past two years and would never encourage them to make a similar mistake. …