University of North Carolina assistant track coach and former Olympic gold medalist Antonio Pettigrew was found dead in his car in Chatham County early Tuesday morning. He was 42 years old.
Police responded to a call at 3:15 a.m. from fellow assistant coaches Raymond Langley and Peter Watson, who were concerned because Pettigrew had not shown up to work the day before.
After retracing Pettigrew’s route to work, Chatham County Sheriff’s deputies found him deceased in the backseat of his 2008 Dodge Aspen on a bridge on US-751 near Jordan Lake. An open bottle of the sleep aid Unisom was found next to him in the car, and police say they are investigating the possibility of an intentional overdose. According to sheriff’s deputies, a considerable number of pills had been removed from the bottle. No foul play is suspected.
“Although we are still learning the circumstances, we are deeply saddened to learn of Antonio’s death,” UNC athletic director Dick Baddour said Tuesday in a statement posted on TarHeelBlue.com. “I was particularly impressed with the relationships he established with his student-athletes and the pride he took in representing the University of North Carolina. Our deepest condolences go out to Antonio’s family, particularly his wife and son.”
A graduate of St. Augustine’s in Raleigh, Pettigrew had spent three years as Director of Cross Country and Track and Field at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Raleigh before coming to UNC. There, he specialized in coaching the team’s sprinters, hurdlers and relay teams.
During his professional career, Pettigrew won a gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics as a member of the U.S. 1,600-meter relay team. However, the International Olympic Committee stripped the team of its medals in 2008 after Pettigrew admitted taking performance-enhancing drugs during the trial of his former coach Trevor Graham.
Despite Pettigrew’s stature in the track community, UNC senior David Zbierski said he always remained humble during the two years Zbierski was a member of the Cardinal Gibbons track team.
“Everybody knew he had won a gold medal in the Olympics, but he never talked about it,” Zbierski said. “He never talked about what he had done; he just talked about what we needed to do to be better runners.”
He is survived by his wife, Cassandra, and their son, Antonio, Jr.
