Twenty years subsequent to finishing fourth in the 110m hurdles at the World Under-20 Championships (then World Juniors), Jamaica’s Richard Phillips has been upgraded to a bronze medal after the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) of World Athletics discovered proof of “age manipulation”.

Phillips, the former Ardenne High and George Mason University graduate, crossed the finish line outside the medal places in the final at the National Stadium in Jamaica on the last day of the championships, running a wind-aided 13.90 seconds (2.6m/s). American Antwon Hicks won the gold medal in 13.42, while China’s Dongpeng Shi took the silver in 13.58 and Shamar Sands of The Bahamas was third in 13.67.

The Chinese athlete was, however, disqualified after he was found to have been in breach of the age stipulations.

Without providing specifics, a release from World Athletics on Friday stated: “World Athletics has also taken action to annul the results of 11 athletes from World Athletics Series events between 2001 and 2013 due to age manipulation. “Nine of the athletes have been identified as overage at the time of the championships in which they competed, and two athletes have been identified as underage.”

The addition of the bronze saw Jamaica’s medal tally increase to 12 (two gold, five silver and five bronze), while China’s decreased to 10 (two gold, eight silver).

The release added: “The men’s long jump at the 2003 World Youth Championships [Saudi Arabia’s Ahmed Nezar H Al-Sharfa disqualified and Andrejs Maskancevs of Latvia awarded the bronze medal]; and the men’s medley relay at the 2005 World Youth Championships [Saudi Arabia disqualified and South Africa awarded the bronze medal].”

“Seven Member Federations have been placed on the new Competition Manipulation Watch List following an investigation of suspicious competition results conducted by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU).

“The World Athletics Council approved the introduction of a Competition Manipulation Watch List at its meeting in Oregon in July, in response to an AIU investigation prompted by 17 reports of suspicious competition results during the qualification period for the 2021 Olympic Games.”

Commenting on the matter, the chairman of the AIU David Howman said: “Today’s announcements demonstrate that World Athletics and the Athletics Integrity Unit are committed to protecting the sport from all kinds of integrity threats.

“The Competition Manipulation Watch List is an important protective measure to support honest and hard-working athletes who may otherwise be robbed of their rightful place in major events. The AIU is currently investigating several specific allegations of competition manipulation relating to qualification for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

“I thank World Athletics for taking action on historical age manipulation cases, based on evidence provided by the AIU. The rightful medallists have finally been acknowledged, and I’m sure this is very meaningful to them. While this step has corrected some historic wrongs, age manipulation continues to be a concern in athletics, and the AIU is actively investigating more recent allegations of this nature.”