Daniel Plaza

This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Plaza and the second or maternal family name is Montero.

Daniel Plaza Montero (born July 3, 1966 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain) is a Spanish former race walker. Plaza is most famous for having won the 20 km walk at the 1992 Summer Olympics, becoming the first Spanish track & field athlete ever to win an Olympic gold medal.

Plaza tested positive for the steroid nandrolone after the 1996 Spanish championships but denied taking it. He claimed the test result was due to prolonged oral sex with his pregnant wife (pregnant women may produce the steroid).

It took ten years, but in July 2006 he won a case to clear his name of a drugs ban. Spain's Supreme Court found in his favor after he took legal action over a two-year ban imposed by the Spanish Committee for Sporting Discipline.

He tested negative in further tests for the drug which normally takes three months to disappear from the system.

Achievements

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing Spain
1988	Olympic Games	Seoul, South Korea	12th	20 km	1:21:53
1989	World Race Walking Cup	L'Hospitalet, Spain	11th	20 km	1:22:09
1990	European Championships	Split, Yugoslavia	2nd	20 km	1:22:22
1991	World Race Walking Cup	San Jose, United States	4th	20 km	1:21:00
1992	Olympic Games	Barcelona, Spain	1st	20 km	1:21:45
1993	World Race Walking Cup	Monterrey, Mexico	6th	20 km	1:24:52
	World Championships	Stuttgart, Germany	3rd	20 km	1:23:18
1996	European Race Walking Cup	La Coruña, Spain	2nd	20 km
	Olympic Games	Atlanta, United States	11th	20 km	1:22:05

References

• sports-reference