Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino left in this Historic Friday for sport Dominican a message for his followers through his Instagram account.
“The power of God is great” said the 400-meter champion, who this Friday opened the doors to Olympic glory win the final of the test in Paris 2024, with a time of 48.17 seconds, an Olympic record for the discipline.
Minutes earlier, Marileidy expressed her impressions to the media in Paris. “This is the best thing in my life. It really is. I felt very strong, I worked hard and I have an Olympic record,” Paulino acknowledged after the race for the Olympic Games. Olympics.com.
“For me this gold medal means a lot. It was the medal I needed to complete an Olympic cycle and it is a medal that the country needed. The truth is that it was worth it because I think it will inspire many young people who are in precarious situations: through me many doors will open for them,” she continued to the media.
A golden year
The “Dominican gazelle” put the finishing touch on a 2024 of quality and dominance this Friday. Champion of the last two versions of the Diamond League final, not counting victories in other stops of the event.
“There is a big difference. In the past I was a rookie, now I have more experience of what I am going to do and how I should do it. I feel very prepared, thank God, and I am in very good mental and physical shape,” Marileidy said in a recent conversation with CDN.
Yaseen Perez, Marileidy’s coach, reinforced the arguments of the native of Don Gregorio. “The Olympic Games are the biggest competition and there is no improvisation. Now she is not going as an unknown, but as an athlete to win and we have emphasized hard work,” he said.
Marileidy’s next challenge
Paulino’s gold medal adds to the two silver medals the Dominican won in her debut on the Olympic stage, in Tokyo 2020.
Despite winning gold with an Olympic record, she was unable to surpass another of her goals at these Olympic Games: breaking the world record.
The world record in this event has been held for 39 years. It was set by Marita Koch of the German Democratic Republic, who stopped the clock at 47.60 seconds in 1985.
Until Paris 2024, Paulino’s personal best was 48.76 seconds, set in 2023, when she became the first female world champion in an individual athletics event from the Dominican Republic. This time she surpassed them with her time of 48.17 in Paris 2024, but far from what will be the Olympic champion’s next goal: the world record.
