Luguelín Miguel Santos Aquino (born 12 November 1992) is a Dominican sprinter, who specialises in the 400 m. He was the silver medallist in the event at the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

at the age of nineteen. His personal best is 44.11 seconds. Santos emerged with two gold medals at the

2010 Summer Youth Olympics The 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, ) officially known as the I Summer Youth Olympic Games, and commonly known as Singapore 2010, were the inaugural edition of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG), an Olympic Games-based event for young athletes. Held ...

and made his senior breakthrough at the

2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games () and commonly known as Guadalajara 2011, were an international multi-sport event held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby c ...

, taking individual and relay silver medals with Dominican national record times. He belongs to the Dominican olympic program CRESO.

Career

Early life

Born in Bayaguana to Juan Santos Santos (a lift operator) and Irma Aquino Mejia (a housewife), Luguelín Santos's upbringing was marked by poverty. His older cousin, Celia Aquino, suggested that he and his brother, Juander, start competing in athletics as she did. He began running in 2002, although he ran barefoot, as he had no shoes and he was often hungry. There was no running track near where he lived in Monte Plata Province, so he trained at the local

baseball stadium A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into two field sections called the infield and the outfield. The infield is an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined in part ba ...

instead. He initially tried long distances, then moved down to middle distances, before finally settling on the 400 m at the age of fourteen.Cavelo Robinson, Javier (26 July 2012)
Luguelín Miguel SANTOS Aquino
.

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

. Retrieved on 2012-08-24. In 2008, the fourteen-year-old Santos ran the 400 m in 53 seconds and he decided to take the sport seriously after running at the national schools championships.Minshull, Phil (20 June 2012)
Santos beginning to eclipse Sanchez as the Dominican Republic's track hero - Barcelona 2012

. Retrieved on 2012-08-24. His performances attracted the attention of José Ludwig Rubio, a Dominican coach and former president of the national association. The following year he ran a personal best of 47.58 seconds and made his international debut at the 2009 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships. He was eliminated in the first round of the 400 m and was impressed at the speed of fellow Caribbean athlete Rondell Bartholomew. He broke his first national junior record at the competition as part of the Dominican

4×400 metres relay A four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, is a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case pro ...

team, running a time of 3:13.18 minutes. A visa problem caused him to miss out on the

2009 World Youth Championships in Athletics The 2009 World Youth Championships in Athletics is the sixth edition of the IAAF World Youth Championships in Athletics. They were held at Brixen-Bressanone Sport Arena in Bressanone, Italy from 8–12 July 2009. Athletes had to be aged 16 or ...

. The 2010 season saw him win further accolades as he ran a Dominican youth and junior record time of 46.19 seconds in June and a week later won the silver medal at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships. Held at

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez w:es:Estadio, es:Estadio is the spanish language word for Stadium. The term may be applied to the following: * Estadio (magazine) a sports magazine published in Chile * Specific stadiums in Spanish speaking or Portuguese speaking countriesclick he ...

, Santos also won a relay bronze and knocked two and half seconds off the national junior record. Stepping up to the global stage, he came sixth in the final at the

2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to s ...

then achieved his first major victories at the

Youth Olympic Games Youth Olympic Games is an international multi-sport event for athletes aged 15 to 18 years old. Organized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Games are held every four years in staggered summer and winter events consistent with ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, taking the 400 m and sprint medley relay titles.

First senior medals

At the start of 2011 he moved to San Germán,

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

to be close to his coach and study at the

Interamerican University of Puerto Rico The Inter American University of Puerto Rico (Spanish: ''Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico''; often abbreviated to ''UIPR'' or ''Inter'') is a private Christian university with its main campus in San Germán, Puerto Rico. It also has ...

. A hamstring injury hampered his training in the first half of the year and also led to him pulling up in the final at the 2011 Central American and Caribbean Championships. He missed qualification for the

2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The United States topped the medal standings in the ...

, but his form returned in August as he ran under 46 seconds in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

. He excelled at the

, where a series of good runs culminated in two silver medals and two Dominican records. He ran 44.71 seconds (beating Felix Sánchez's time) to take the 400 m silver medal behind Nery Brenes, then helped the Dominican 4 × 400 m relay quartet to a second national record of 3:00.44 minutes to finish as runners-up behind Cuba. Building upon his success in regional competition, he ran for the first time indoors at the

2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was the 14th edition of the global-level indoor track and field competition and was held between March 9–11, 2012 at the Ataköy Athletics Arena in Istanbul, Turkey. It was the first of fo ...

, reaching the semi-finals and setting an indoor best of 46.83 seconds. He made a strong start on major track circuit, finishing second at the

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fifteen invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics one-day meet competitions. The inaugural season was ...

meeting with a time of 44.88 seconds. He was second at the Golden Spike Ostrava, then had a winning run of 44.45 seconds at the FBK Games, which ranked him third on the all-time junior lists. He also ran a national junior record of 20.73 seconds for the

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

that month. His first Diamond League win followed at the Adidas Grand Prix, where he beat former World and Olympic champion

Jeremy Wariner Jeremy Matthew Wariner (born January 31, 1984) is a retired American track athlete specializing in the 400 meters. He has won four Olympic medals (three gold, one silver) and six World Championships medals. He is the joint sixth fastest comp ...

. A day later he ran at the 2012 Ibero-American Championships in Athletics in

Barquisimeto Barquisimeto (; ) is a city in Venezuela. Barquisimeto is located in the Central-Western Region, Venezuela. It is the capital of the state of Lara (state), Lara and head of Iribarren Municipality. It is an important urban, industrial, commercial a ...

with the Dominican relay team, taking a bronze medal and securing their place at the Olympics.

Olympic silver medal

LuguelinSantosAquinoFinal400mLondres2012

After winning his country's first ever medal at the World Junior Championships in

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(of which he was later stripped due to age falsification), Santos said: "so far only Americans have finished in under 44 seconds, I want to be the first from somewhere else". He was beaten to that distinction by Grenada's Kirani James in the 400 m final at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. Santos was next to finish after James, however, as he ran within 0.01 of his personal best time to claim an unexpected Olympic silver medal. His was the third ever medal for the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

, coming just 45 minutes after Felix Sánchez won his second Olympic gold. A team of Gustavo Cuesta, Felix Sánchez, Joel Mejia and Santos appeared to have qualified for the 4 × 400 m relay final, but the second baton change was outside of the changeover zone and the team was disqualified.

2013–2016

In the 400 m final of the 2013 World Championships, Santos went from a non-medal position to winning the bronze medal, after closing down several athletes on the home straight, including the defending champion, Kirani James. Santos won the 400 m gold medal in the

2015 Pan American Games The 2015 Pan American Games (), officially the XVII Pan American Games () and commonly known as the Toronto 2015 Pan-Am Games (Toronto 2015), were a major international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Pan American Games, ...

. Despite being among the pre-race favourites for the 2015 World Championships 400 metres, Santos finished in fourth place in the finals. However, in doing so, he gained the distinction of holding the fastest ever non-medal time in that event. He also broke his own National Record. At the

2016 Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, Santos finished second in his 400 m preliminary heat, behind

Wayde Van Niekerk Wayde van Niekerk (South African English: , ; born 15 July 1992) is a South African track and field sprinter who competes in the 200 and 400 metres. In the 400 metres, he is the current world and Olympic record holder, having set the rec ...

(who was to go onto break the World Record in the final). In the semi-final, Santos ran a Season's Best of 44.71, as he finished 4th and didn't reach the final.

Charges of age falsification

In 2023, he was suspended by

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

on charges of age falsification that took place early in his career. He has admitted that he competed in junior events with a passport stating he was born in 1993 despite having been born in 1992. Some of his junior victories were in events where a date of birth in 1993 was required and mean he could be disqualified if found guilty On 1 December 2023 the Athletics Integrity Unit confirmed that he had been found liable, stripped him of his world Junior title and banned him from the sport for three years. Despite being found to be ineligible for the

he is still credited as a gold medalist for these games.

International competitions

¹Disqualified in the final

Personal bests

: 20.55 (2013) * 300 metres: 32.56 (2012) *

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

: 44.11 (2015) NR *

(indoor): 45.80 (2017) NR

References

External links