Dominican Luguelin Santos came in second in the IAAF contest, but was disqualified. The Dominican 2012 London Olympics silver medalist had chased Spaniard Oscar Husillos all throughout the 400m contest at the IAAF World Indoor Championships that took place in Birmingham, Great Britain from 1-4 March 2018. Husillos had clocked in at 44.92, fast enough for what would have been a championship record. But he too was disqualified, meaning third place race finisher, Czech Pavel Maslak would win with 45.47, and US Michael Cherry with 45.84 would win the silver medal. Deon Lendore of Trinidad and Tobago won the actual battle for bronze, edging Aldrich Bailey Jr. of the US 46.37 to 46.44.
It was determined that Husillos and Santos had violated Rule 163 that orders athletes at all times to keep within their allocated lane.
Pavel Maslak thus became the first three-time winner of the event at these championships. He told IAAF: “I think the guys were stronger than me and I do not know what went wrong for them,” he told post-race interviewers. “They would have beaten me anyway so even if it is gold, it would have a bronze medal for me.”
The Dominican 4 x 400 men’s relay did not make the finals. Team members were Leonel Bonon, Andito Charles, Lidio Andres Felix, Luguelin Santos, Juander Santos and Raymond Urbino.
Read more:
IAAF
Reuters
Reuters
5 March 2018
