Marileidy Paulino Wins Dominican Republic’s First-Ever Women’s Track & Field Olympic Medal at Tokyo Games

2020 Tokyo Games

She’s broken multiple records for the Dominican Republic, and now Marileidy Paulino is making sports history for her country…

The 24-year-old Dominican sprinter raced to the silver medal in the women’s 400-meter final with a time of 49.20 at the 2020 Tokyo Games, winning the Dominican Republic’s first-ever individual Olympic medal in women’s track and field.

Marileidy Paulino

Under Bahamas sprinter Shaunae Miller-Uibo’s time of 48.36, she beat Team USA‘s Allyson Felix, whose bronze medal run made her the most decorated woman in Olympic track history.

Paulino’s run is a personal best that sets a new national record for the Caribbean nation.

Marileidy Paulino

The sprinter, who is also a corporal in the Dominican Air Force, will also be coming home with another silver from her mixed 4×400-meter relay, a team consisting of Anabel MedinaLidio Andrés Feliz, and Alexander Ogando.

Paulino’s 52-year old mother, Anatalia Paulino, told the Dominican Republic’s main newspaper, Listín Diario that her daughter made a promise to her when she arrived in Japan that she would bring back an Olympic medal to build a house in the country’s southern city of Nizao, where she resides with her brothers. After five years of preparing for the Olympics, she was finally be able to complete that promise.

Marileidy Paulino & Her Dominican Teammates Claim Silver in Inaugural Mixed 4x400m Relay at Tokyo Games

2020 Tokyo Games

Marileidy Paulino and her teammates are celebrating a silver finish…

The 24-year-old Dominican athlete, 24-year-old Lidio Andrés Feliz, 24-year-old Anabel Medina and 21-year-old Alexander Ogando gave the Dominican Republic a silver medal in the first-ever Mixed 4x400m relay at the Tokyo Games.

Marileidy Paulino, Lidio Andrés Feliz, Anabel Medina, Alexander Ogando, Mixed 4x400m Relay, 2020 Tokyo Games, Tokyo Games, Olympics,

Paulino and her teammates finished the race with a time of 3:10.21, just behind Poland’s team, which set an Olympic record with a time of 3:09.87.

The United States team, the favorites heading into the Olympics, had to settle for the bronze, coming in just behind the Dominican Republic with a time of 3:10.22.

Marileidy Paulino & Dominican Team

The event, which features two men and two women per team and made its World Championships debut in 2019, contains a certain level of unpredictability as there are no gender rules governing the order in which athletes choose to race.

Poland had experimented with its lineup in the Doha title race, placing men in the first two legs, but they finished fifth. The team opted to place its two women competitors in the middle legs of Saturday’s race, as did the other eight teams.