What you should know about the Dominican sprinter and gold winner – NBC New York

Dominican sprinter Marileidy Paulino had her sights set on winning the gold medal in the women’s 400-meter final at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on Friday afternoon – and that’s exactly what she did – and set an Olympic record in the process!

With this victory, Paulino becomes the first woman from the Dominican Republic to win gold and the first Dominican Olympian since Félix Sánchez in London 2012, when he dominated the 400-meter hurdles.

Paulino dominated the qualifying round and the semifinals to become one of the top contenders for the final. In both events, it was notable how Paulino slowed down in the meters before the finish line.

Paulino was close to the gold medal in Tokyo, but had to settle for silver in the individual competition and in the mixed 4×400-meter relay.

“If it is necessary (to break the record) to win the gold medal, I will do it,” Paulino said.

And she did.

The Olympic record for women’s 400 m belongs to Frenchwoman Marie-José Pérec, who ran 48.25 seconds in Atlanta in 1996. Paulino easily beat Pérec’s record with 48.17 seconds. (The world record of 47.60 seconds has been held by German Marita Koch since 1985.)

Without the reigning Olympic champion from the Bahamas, Shaunae Miller-Uibo, a top competitor for Paulino is Bahraini sprinter Salwa Eid Nasser, who became world champion in Doha in 2019. Nasser achieved the best time in the semifinals (49.08). Another competitor is Poland’s Natalia Kacz Marek.

The 27-year-old is the second youngest of six siblings and, according to her official Olympic biography, has no sporting background in the family. She grew up playing recreational sports in her hometown of Don Gregorio, an hour from Santo Domingo.

Her athletic abilities were noticed when she played handball at the age of 18. According to Olympics.com, the country’s sports minister noticed her talent and she was recruited to the athletics association.

Paulino was eventually offered a month’s salary to join the Dominican Air Force as a track and field athlete, a sport to which she has been truly dedicated and focused her time since 2015.

Although she started out as a 100m and 200m sprinter, she switched to 400m in 2020.

“I started running barefoot, then wore socks and running shoes, then borrowed spikes until I could buy a pair,” she previously told Olympics.com.

Paulino was selected as flag bearer for the Dominican Republic at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

American Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone smashed her own world record in the women’s 400-meter hurdles and defended her Olympic title with a time of 50.37 seconds.