'Shocked' Johnson will return Olympic medal

LONDON -- Olympic great Michael Johnson says he was "shocked" by former teammate Antonio Pettigrew's doping admission and will return the gold medal the two of them helped the United States win in the 1,600-meter relay at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

"As difficult as it is, I will be returning it to the International Olympic Committee because I don't want it," Johnson wrote in a column in Tuesday's Daily Telegraph. "I feel cheated, betrayed and let down."

Pettigrew testified on May 22 at the trial of disgraced coach Trevor Graham in San Francisco that he had used banned performance enhancing drugs throughout his long career. The testimony had been described earlier in the trial.

"The news that Antonio was scheduled to testify to having taken performance-enhancing drugs shocked me like no other drug-related story," Johnson wrote. "... He was someone I considered a friend."

The gold medal is one of 5 Johnson won in his standout career. He still holds the world record in the 200 and 400 meters. Pettigrew's testimony means that three of the four runners in the finals on the U.S. relay team have been tainted by drugs

Twins Alvin and Calvin Harrison both were suspended for doping violations. Alvin Harrison accepted a four-year ban in 2004 after admitting he used performance enhancers. Calvin Harrison tested positive for a banned stimulant in 2003 and was suspended for two years. Like Pettigrew, they were coached by Graham.

Earlier, Johnson had refused to give up the medal after it was revealed that another U.S. relay teammate, Jerome Young, had tested positive in 1999. Young, it was later ruled by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, had been wrongly cleared by U.S. officials to compete. He ran only in a preliminary round, and the athletes won an appeal to keep the medals.