Luguelín Santos

Luguelín Santos

Santos at the 2013 World Championships
Personal information
Full name	Luguelín Miguel Santos Aquino
Nationality	Dominican
Born	(1993-11-12) 12 November 1993 (age 23) Bayaguana, Monte Plata, Dominican Republic
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight	61 kg (134 lb)
Sport
Sport	Track and field
Event(s)	400 metres 4 × 400m Relay
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	400 m: 44.11 (Beijing 2015)
Medal record Representing the  Dominican Republic Olympic Games 2012 London 400 m World Championships 2013 Moscow 400 m Pan American Games 2015 Toronto 400 m 2011 Guadalajara 400 m 2011 Guadalajara 4×400 m relay World Junior Championships 2012 Barcelona 400 m Summer Youth Olympics 2010 Singapore 400 m 2010 Singapore Medley relay Universiade 2015 Gwangju 400 m 2015 Gwangju 4x400 m relay CAC Championships 2013 Morelia 4x400 m relay
Updated on 24 December 2014.

Luguelín Miguel Santos Aquino (born 12 November 1993) is a Dominican sprinter, who specialises in the 400 m. He was the silver medallist in the event at the 2012 London Olympics at the age of eighteen. His personal best is 44.11 seconds.

Santos emerged with two gold medals at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics and made his senior breakthrough at the 2011 Pan American Games, taking individual and relay silver medals with Dominican national record times. He won his country's first medal at the World Junior Championships in Athletics by winning the 400 m title in 2012.

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 instead. He initially tried long distances, then moved down to middle distances, before finally settling on the 400 m at the age of fourteen.

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. 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 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.