Marileidy Paulino made history on Friday when she became the first woman from the Dominican Republic to win an Olympic gold medal in any sport.
Paulino dominated the second corner and pulled away on the home straight, becoming the fifth fastest woman in the 400 meters with a time of 48.17 seconds and setting a new Olympic record.
The 27-year-old, reigning world champion over this distance, broke the previous record of 48.25, which was last held by Frenchwoman Marie-Jose Perec.
This is Paulino’s third Olympic medal after winning silver in both the 400-meter dash and the mixed 4×400-meter relay at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Paulino brought the Dominican Republic’s medal tally to three.
Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain won silver, crossing the finish line in 48.53 seconds, setting a new season’s best. She stayed close to the gold medalist before the second corner and put herself in a medal-winning position on the final straight.
Paris is Naser’s second Olympic appearance; at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio he made it to the semi-finals in the 400 m.
Natalia Kaczmarek stepped up a gear in the final 50 metres and secured bronze for Poland in 48.98 seconds, beating Ireland’s Rhasidat Adeleke by three tenths of a second.
After her two sub-49 second performances this season, Kaczmarek was considered a likely medal contender.
Alexis Holmes was the only American to qualify for the 400-meter final, clocking a time of 49.77 seconds, setting a new personal best and finishing sixth.
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