Olympic silver medallist receives three-year ban for faking age

On Friday, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) banned Dominican Republic sprinter Luguelin Santos for three years for faking his age to compete at the 2012 World Junior Championships (now World U20 Championships) in Barcelona, where he won gold in the men’s 400m.

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

Santos admitted to competing in the 2012 championships with a passport showing a falsified date of birth of Nov. 12, 1993. He was born on that date, but in 1992, making him ineligible to participate in the World Juniors in 2012, being over the age of 20. According to the AIU, his gold medal will be rescinded and his result will be disqualified.

Santos, now 31, admitted using a “special passport” with a falsified birth year (1993) to compete. (Santos used his genuine passport with the correct birth year (1992) for other official purposes.)

The AIU provisionally suspended Santos on July 8, 2022 and formally charged him on Dec. 22, 2022. Santos accepted the charges on Jan. 13, 2023, and on March 11, he confessed to participating in a competition while being over age. The three-year ban reflects the athlete’s acceptance of the rule violation. Santos broke several rules under various World Athletics Competition Rules, including participating while not eligible, plus engaging in corrupt practices.

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Santos’ three-year period of ineligibility runs from March 11, 2023, to March 10, 2026. The AIU stated its concern over the prevalence of age manipulation, citing its impact on the integrity of junior athletics competitions. 

While the age-manipulation ban disqualifies Santos’s gold medal from the 2012 World Junior Championships, it does not affect the silver medal he earned at the 2012 London Olympics in the men’s 400m. Santos has had a stellar professional career in track and field, winning three global medals in the 400m, including two Olympic silvers. He also won the men’s 400m at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto.