Banned Olympic marathon runner Daniel Nascimento has gone missing, with his family launching an appeal to find him. The Brazilian vanished from his house with just a backpack, his mother Valdirene de Paula Ferreira said.
Disappearance and Family Appeal
The 27-year-old left his family home in Paraguacu Paulista, in the south-west of the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, with only a black backpack. He was last sighted on the evening of June 19, though his family is believed to have only formally reported him missing to police this week. Relatives made the appeal shortly before his 28th birthday.
Nascimento's mother made a desperate plea on Instagram on Tuesday morning. She said: “Does anyone have any information about my son? His name is Daniel Nascimento, better-known by the nickname Armero. He was a marathon runner.”
Career and Ban
Nascimento made history in April 2022 by setting a South American and Americas area record of two hours, 4 minutes and 51 seconds at the Seoul Marathon. That time secured him a third-place finish and a spot at the 2024 Paris Olympics. But he tested positive for steroids a month before he was due to run in the French capital, leading to a five-year ban issued in May last year that excluded him from the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
His mother has previously admitted she thought he was struggling to cope with the ban. Ms Ferreira said: “Since he was banned from competing, he was with me, under my care. I would go to work and he would come with me. He was always a good boy. Sometimes I used to take him out for a run. He would do some training sessions in secret in the middle of the sugarcane fields. I think he really missed the routine of being an athlete.”
