Luguelin Santos, the 2012 Olympic 400m silver medalist, was banned three years for competing overage at the 2012 World Junior Championships, where he won the 400m.
His ban runs to March 10, 2026.
Santos, now 31, admitted to competing in 2012 with a passport with a false date of birth, according to the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU).
It stated he was born Nov. 12, 1993, when he was actually born on Nov. 12, 1992. He competed at the 2012 World Juniors, a meet for athletes who were 18 or 19 on Dec. 31, 2012.
Santos used the false birthdate from 2010 through 2017. He said that he was directed by Dominican authorities to use the passport with the false birthdate for competitions and his genuine passport for all other purposes, according to the AIU.
Santos was stripped of the 2012 World Junior title, but his Olympic silver medal that year is unaffected.
“Unlike with sanctions for doping violations, there was no 2012 rule that provided for the disqualification of future results in age-eligibility cases, so there is no basis on which to annul his Olympic result as that was not an age-group event and no violation was committed there,” AIU head Brett Clothier said in a press release.
When Santos crossed the finish line in London, he became, with the false birthdate, the youngest Olympic men’s 400m medalist in history. With Santos’ correct birthdate, 1988 Olympic champion Steve Lewis of Great Britain remains the youngest men’s 400m medalist, according to Olympedia.org.
At 2012 World Juniors, American Arman Hall was the original silver medalist behind Santos. Officials have not said if Hall will be upgraded to champion.
Santos was part of the Dominican Republic’s Olympic silver-medal mixed-gender 4x400m team at the Tokyo Games, where he ran in the first round but the final.
He last raced individually at a global championship at the 2018 World Indoors.
