Sprinter Rougelin Santos (31, Dominican Republic), who lied about his age and won a gold medal at the 2012 Barcelona World Junior Athletics Championships (under 20 years old), was severely punished with a three-year suspension.

The Athlete Ethics Committee (AIU), an independent body of the World Association of Athletics Federations, said on the 2nd (Korean time), “Santos used a forged passport for the 2012 Barcelona Games,” and added, “The date of birth in the passport at the time was ‘November 12, 1993.’ “It was written down, but Santos was actually born on November 12, 1992,” he announced.

According to Reuters on this day, only athletes who were 18 or 19 years old as of December 31, 2012 could participate in the 2012 Barcelona World Junior Athletics Championships. Santos, born in November 1992, was 20 years old at the time and could not participate in the competition.

Santos, who was investigated by the AIU, eventually confessed, “I forged a passport to participate in the World Junior Championship in 2012.”

The AIU began investigating Santos' passport forgery charges in July of last year, and on this day confirmed the disciplinary action of a three-year suspension and the loss of medals at the time.

The AIU set Santos' disciplinary period from March 11, 2023 to March 10, 2026.

Santos won a gold medal in the men's 400m race at the 2012 Barcelona World Junior Championships with a time of 44.85 seconds. At the time, Santos attracted attention as the first athlete from the Dominican Republic to win a gold medal at the World Junior Athletics Championships.

However, Santos falsified his passport to participate in the competition, and his medal record was deleted.

Meanwhile, Santos has also reached the podium at multiple Olympics and World Championships.

He won a silver medal in the men's 400m at the 2012 London Olympics, a silver medal in the 1,600m mixed relay at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and a bronze medal in the men's 400m at the 2013 Moscow World Championships.

Apart from the three-year ban, the medals he won at the Olympics and World Championships will not be taken away.

AIU Chairman Brett Claudier said, “Unlike the sanctions for doping violations, his Olympic and World Championship results were not in age-group competitions,” and added, “Because the violation did not occur there, there is no basis for revoking his results at the time.” 스포츠토토맨