Sprinter stripped of gold medal, slapped with three-year ban for age manipulation
According to the AIU statement, he was born on November 12, 1992, making him ineligible for the competition, as junior athletes were required to be aged 18 or 19 on December 31 of the competition year.
The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) announced on Friday, December 1, 2023 that Dominican sprinter Luguelin Santos has been handed a three-year ban and stripped of his World Junior Championships gold medal due to age manipulation violations.
Santos (31) admitted to using a passport with a falsified date of birth (November 12, 1993) when he competed in the 2012 World Junior Championships in Barcelona, Spain.
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According to the AIU statement, he was born on November 12, 1992, making him ineligible for the competition, as junior athletes were required to be aged 18 or 19 on December 31 of the competition year.
The AIU has banned Luguelin Miguel Santos Aquino (Dominican Republic) for 3 years, from 11 March 2023 to 10 March 2026, for violating Rules 141 (Age categories), 9.6 (Corrupt Practices) and 9.10(c) (Failure to report) of the IAAF Competition Rules 2012-2013 (...) pic.twitter.com/rSxaW4xknU
— Athletics Integrity Unit (@aiu_athletics) December 1, 2023
Although Santos won 400 meters gold at the 2012 World Junior Championships, his ban started in March of this year and extends until March 2026. Despite losing his junior title, he will retain his Olympic 400m silver medal from the London Games in the same year.
Santos' best time in the 400m is 44.11, and he achieved 400m bronze at the 2013 World Championships and mixed relay silver at the Tokyo Olympics.
The AIU revealed that Santos had consistently declared 1993 as his birth year for competitions from 2010 to 2017. However, in February 2018, he changed his declared birthdate to November 12, 1992, based on a passport issued in that year.
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