Marileidy Paulino’s Olympic sprint has broken multiple records for the Dominican Republic.
The 24-year-old sprinter captured silver Friday in the women’s 400-meter final with a time of 49.20, winning the Dominican Republic’s first medal in women’s track and field. Under Bahamas’ Shaunae Miller-Uibo, she beat United States’ 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.
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 Medina, Lidio 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.
People also took to social media to celebrate her victory.
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