Building upon his success in regional competition, he ran for the first time indoors at the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships, reaching the semi-finals and setting an indoor best of 46.83 seconds. He made a strong start on major track circuit, finishing second at the Doha Diamond League meeting with a time of 44.88 seconds. He was second at the Golden Spike Ostrava, then had a winning run of 44.45 seconds at the FBK Games, which ranked him third on the all-time junior lists. He also ran a national junior record of 20.73 seconds for the 200 metres that month. His first Diamond League win followed at the Adidas Grand Prix, where he beat former World and Olympic champion Jeremy Wariner. A day later he ran at the 2012 Ibero-American Championships in Athletics in Barquisimeto with the Dominican relay team, taking a bronze medal and securing their place at the Olympics.