Athletics coach Graham arranged illegal drugs: Olympians

By Clare Baldwin

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Athletics coach Trevor Graham arranged for Antonio Pettigrew to take illegal performance-enhancing drugs before he won a gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the sprinter told a U.S. court on Thursday.

Graham is accused of lying to U.S. investigators about distributing steroids. The 44-year-old has pleaded not guilty.

Pettigrew, a member of the U.S. men's 4x400 meters relay team, testified that Graham suggested he use performance-enhancing drugs after the 1996 Olympic trials.

"He talked about two types of drugs that I could use as a 400-metre runner," Pettigrew said. "He had a contact if I wanted to use them."

Pettigrew said he then received courier packages containing two illegal substances, human growth hormone and erythropoietin (EPO), that increase an athlete's muscle and endurance.

After using them, Pettigrew said he began "running incredible times" when preparing for meetings. "I would recover faster," he said.

Pettigrew's testimony was echoed by Olympic team mate Jerome Young, who was banned from competition for life in 2004 for taking performance-enhancing drugs.

"(Graham) pretty much told me this would allow me to compete a little bit better," Young said, adding Graham once gave him one of the drugs and told him to inject it in his stomach.

The former team mates were joined in court by a number of several other Graham coached athletes who also testified that he provided them with illegal drugs.

Graham could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted on all charges, which mark a reversal of fortune for the man who sparked the BALCO doping scandal in 2003 by anonymously sending authorities a syringe with a then-undetectable steroid.

More than a dozen athletes have been suspended or disciplined in connection with the case.

The biggest name indicted in the BALCO scandal -- U.S. baseball player Barry Bonds -- is yet to go to trial, with the same San Francisco courtroom scheduled to hold a hearing in the case next month.

(Writing by Amanda Beck; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)