Athlete sprinter Marileidy Paulino is the first Dominican woman to win an Olympic gold medal. At the Paris Olympics, she achieved what no Dominican woman had done before—she captured the gold medal in the 400 meters.
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- Marileidy Paulino
Paulino’s Olympic Medals
Born in Nizao, Dominican Republic, Marileidy Paulino’s journey to the pinnacle of athletics is a story of grit, talent, and relentless determination. She burst onto the international scene with her remarkable performances in the 400 meters. Her breakthrough moment came at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics (held in 2021 due to the pandemic), where she won the team silver medal in the 400 meters, making her the first Dominican woman to ever achieve an Olympic podium finish. But Paulino’s ambitions didn’t stop there.
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, she established herself as one of the world’s elite athletes. Her victory was not just a personal triumph but a moment of immense pride for the Dominican Republic, inspiring a new generation of athletes in her homeland.
Known as the “Dominican Lightning” (“el rayo dominicano”), Paulino has set new national records in both the 200 and 400 meters. Her success is the result of years of hard work, dedication, and a deep love for her sport. Since May 2023, Paulino is the 400 m ranked world No. 1. In her victory run in Paris, Paulino also set a new Olympic record after taking victory with a time of 48.17.
Tokyo 2020: First Dominican Women to win Olympic medals
Bronze medal for Weightlifter
Crismery Santana was the first Dominican woman to win an individual Olympic medal. The 26-year old weightlifter wrote sports history for the Dominican Republic in the Tokyo Olympics 2020/21 when she won the bronze medal in -87 kg weightlifting.
Santana lifted 267 kg in the snatch and clean & jerk events and made the third place behind China’s Zhouyu Wang and Ecuador’s Tamara Salazar.
Silver medal for Women in the Sprinters’ Team
A few days before, athlete sprinters Marileidy Paulino and Anabel Medina won the first Olympic TEAM medal for Dominican women in the mixed 4×400 meters relay, together with their team mates Lidio Andrés Feliz, Luguelín Santos and Alexander Ogando. And then, on August 6, Paulino also won the individual silver medal in the Women’s 400 meters.
Now, Paulino made it to gold.
The 2024 medal elevates her to the status of a national hero and a symbol of perseverance and excellence for the Dominicans.
Highlights in Dominican Olympic History
The Dominican Republic won one medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, as taekwondoka Luisito Pie won bronze in the men’s flyweight category. It was the NOC’s seventh medal at the Games since making its Olympic debut in 1964 in Tokyo, and its second in taekwondo.
Sprinter Alberto S. Torres Mota was the first competitor to represent the Dominican Republic at the Olympic Games, contesting the men’s 100m at the 1964 Games in Tokyo. The Dominican Republic sent athletes to all 14 Games between Tokyo 1964 and Rio 2016. The NOC’s first female Olympian, sprinter Divina Estrella, competed at the Games in 1976 and 1984.
Pedro Nolasco was the first Dominican Republic athlete to win a medal, claiming bronze in men’s bantamweight boxing in Los Angeles in 1984.
The NOC’s first gold medallist was Felix Sanchez, who claimed victory in the men’s 400m hurdles at the 2004 Games in Athens. He was unable to defend his title four years later in Beijing, where he failed to reach the final, but came back to win his second Olympic gold at London 2012. Sanchez is the only athlete from the Dominican Republic to have won more than one Olympic medal, and his four appearances at the Games between 2000 and 2012 also make him the NOC’s most experienced Olympic competitor.
The Dominican Republic’s only other gold medal at the Olympic Games was won by boxer Felix Diaz in the men’s light welterweight category in 2008 in Beijing.
Source: Olympics.com
Pictures: Dominican Today, Telemundo47, El Nuevo Diario, La Pelotita, Youtube
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