Ricardo dos Santos
Ricardo dos Santos in 2018
Personal information
Full nameVítor Ricardo dos Santos Soares
Born (1994-12-18) 18 December 1994
Lisbon, Portugal
Sport
SportAthletics
Event400 metres
Coached byClarence Callender (–2012)
Linford Christie (2012–)[1]

Vítor Ricardo dos Santos Soares[2] (born 18 December 1994), known as Ricardo dos Santos, is a Portuguese sprinter specialising in the 400 metres.[3] He won a bronze medal at the 2018 Ibero-American Championships. He reached the 400m final at the 2018 European Championships, setting a Portuguese national record of 45.14 in the semifinals.

Personal life

Dos Santos is in a relationship with British sprinter Bianca Williams with whom he has a child, born 2020. As of December 2023, he also works as an "Amazon delivery driver alongside his [athletics] training".[4]

Dos Santos was stopped by police in July 2020, later claiming the officers were racist. He also made a complaint about the officers’ conduct. The officers were cleared of misconduct, before a misconduct hearing was directed by the IOPC. In August 2022, Dos Santos was accused of failing to stop quickly enough for armed police.[5] In October 2023, two officers were dismissed as a result of their actions in the 2020 incident because they lied about being able to smell cannabis. The search itself was not proven to be inappropriate and allegations of racism were also not proven.[6][7]

The police misconduct panel who considered the 2020 incident deemed Dos Santos to be a 'reasonably credible witness' and also someone who 'did not willingly concede to an alternative viewpoint'. As an example, when Dos Santos was asked if his behaviour influences the way he is treated he said "I can behave as I like in the face of anybody. If I'm being mistreated, I deem it's appropriate as anybody to act in any way". The panel separately stated that they were not pursuaded by Dos Santos' evidence about the capabilities of his Tesla vehicle, when he said it had automatically manoeuvred its way around a police vehicle to prevent a collision. Evidence suggested that Dos Santos' Tesla vehicle did not have such a capability.[7]

International competitions

YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
Representing  Portugal
2012 World Junior Championships Barcelona, Spain 52nd (h) 400 m 48.93
2014 European Championships Zürich, Switzerland 7th (sf) 400 m 45.74
2015 European U23 Championships Tallinn, Estonia 10th (h) 400 m 46.51
– 4 × 100 m relay DQ
2018 Mediterranean Games Tarragona, Spain 7th 400 m 46.64
European Championships Berlin, Germany 7th 400 m 45.78
Ibero-American Championships Trujillo, Peru 3rd 400 m 46.45
2021 European Indoor Championships Toruń, Poland 41st (h) 400 m 48.06
Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan 39th (h) 400 m 46.83
2022 Ibero-American Championships La Nucía, Spain 11th (h) 400 m 47.16
3rd 4 × 400 m relay 3:07.23
European Championships Munich, Germany 10th (h) 4 × 400 m relay 3:03.59

Personal bests

Outdoor

Indoor

References

  1. ↑ "Power of 10 profile". Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  2. ↑ Portugueses | Tóquio 2020 | PÚBLICO
  3. ↑ Ricardo dos Santos at World Athletics
  4. ↑ Weaver, Matthew; Media, P. A. (2023-12-04). "British sprinter Bianca Williams banned from driving for six months". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-12-05.
  5. ↑ Dugan, Emily (2022-08-25). "IOPC rules out inquiry into armed police stop of Ricardo dos Santos". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-12-05.
  6. ↑ Editor, Matt Lawton, Chief Sports Correspondent | Fiona Hamilton, Crime (29 October 2023). "Met Police's treatment of Bianca Williams and Ricardo dos Santos was wrong, says Sir Keir Starmer" – via www.thetimes.co.uk. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. 1 2 "Met Police Website - Report on panel's findings and outcome".


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