Marileidy Paulino is a star; she takes gold in Paris

Vice President Raquel Peña and Vice Minister of Sports Rafael Diaz were at Las Americas International Airport on the early evening of Sunday, 11 August 2024 to receive the Dominican medalists of the Paris Olympic Games – gold medal winner Marileidy Paulino and bronze medal winners, boxers Cristian Pinales (80 kilos) and Yunior Alcantara (51 kilos)

The spotlight now is on 27-year old Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic who made Dominican sports history by winning the gold medal in the women’s 400m event at the Paris Olympics 2024. She literally coasted to finish the race setting a new Olympic Record at 48.17.

Her next challenge is to break the World Record at the 2025 World Athletics Championships, the 20th edition of the World Athletics Championships, scheduled to be held from 13 to 21 September 2025 in Tokyo, Japan. The championships will take place at the National Stadium, rebuilt for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, and where Marileidy Paulino first surprised the world by winning a silver medal in the 400m and making such a difference that the Dominican Republic won the silver medal in the Tokyo Olympics 4 x 400 mixed relay. It was a first in athletics for a Dominican Republic relay team.

Her pursuit of the World Record at the 2025 World Athletics Championships is explained by experts as why Marileidy Paulino notably reduced her speed as she finished her race in Paris. It is that the setting of the World Record at the World Athletics Championships in Japan comes with a cash prize of US$100,000. Setting the World Record together with the Olympic Record would not have produced that award.

When Paulino won gold, President Luis Abinader tweeted: “Marileidy Paulino fills us with pride once more! With her gold in @Paris2024 and an Olympic record of 48.17 she has taken the name of the Dominican Republic to the top level. You are an inspiration for all, Marileidy! #OrgulloDominicano #Paris2024”

Indeed, the President expressed the feeling of all the Dominican Republic that had tuned in at 2:30pm to watch the race and celebrated in big, sharing the news online and in get-togethers.

It is that Marileidy Paulino is a rare Dominican-made athlete. She was born here and trained almost exclusively in the Dominican Republic. Given that there is no adequate track in Santo Domingo. The Olympic Stadium track for years has been in disrepair. Paulino spent her last months training in Europe where she ran in the Diamond League circuit.

Paulino’s predecessor, Felix Sanchez, who won two golds in 400 m hurdles for the Dominican Republic in Athens 2004 and London 2012 was born and trained in the United States (University of California Trojans). Today, Sanchez heads the country’s track and field programs, but was not able to get the Abinader administration to fix the track in time for Paulino to train there for the Olympic Games.

For Marileidy Paulino, running against all odds, the gold in Paris was the culmination of a year of wins. Earlier, in the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary in August 2023. She won the gold in the regional Central American and Caribbean Sports Games held in San Salvador. Running at the global level, in 2024 she had won all her 400m races in the Diamond League. Flirting with the 200m, she ran the event and won in the Pan American Games in Chile. In Paris, nevertheless, she decided to concentrate on the 400m, and even desisted from running in a relay, arguing her fellow running mates had not adequately trained to win a medal.

After winning gold in Paris, Marileidy Paulino will receive an award of RD$15 million announced by President Luis Abinader in his La Semanal press conference. The around US$250,000 award was defended by the President as one that the athletes well deserve. Dominican senator Alexis Victoria Yeb has added on another RD$1 million cash award.

World Athletics, the international track and field federation, delivered US$50,000 to her for the win in Paris.

Diario Libre publishes a long list of companies that honor the runner with all sorts of awards. These range from Bravo offering RD$20,000 a month in shopping at their supermarkets, Helados Bon offering free ice cream for a year, an air-conditioner, free travel in the Caribbean on Air Century, Tropigas free propane gas for a year, Catalonia Resorts free stay, free organization of her wedding, and much more.

What is undeniable is that Marileidy Paulino is a star due to her resilience and perseverance. In 2023, upon winning the World Championship, she went public calling for more government support. At the time she complained she had to travel to Bayaguana to train because the Ministry of Sports under Minister Radhames Camacho had preferred to rent out the Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Center for non-sport events instead of repairing the gutted Chevron track to make it adequate for training elite athletes. In four years in government, the track was not restored to conditions for elite athletes. Camacho instead blasted back extolling support given to help her trainer get a visa, that support in wages fell under the Federation of Track and Field, and that Paulino already was making lots running and winning in Diamond League races.

Paulino’s coach is Yaseen Perez, a Cuban who first came to the Dominican Republic when Jaime David Fernandez Mirabal was minister of sports in 2013 and hired coaches to develop track and field in the country.

Current Minister of Sports Radhames Camacho did not renew his contract (he was making RD$50,000 a month), but Perez continued to coach those who he believed could become global track stars, Marileidy Paulino. Perez also coached Anabel Medina, the other woman on the silver-medal winning team in the Tokyo Olympics mixed relay.

Paulino had requested President Luis Abinader award her trainer Dominican nationality or help with his residency in the Dominican Republic to he could travel abroad with her. It was not until February 2024, that he was able to get to garner local support to receive the European visa to travel with Marileidy Paulino.

It is all to her credit, her resilience and passion. Upon winning gold in Paris, in her first statements carried by ESPN she said that what was most important about the win was that it opened doors for other girls and women to follow in her footsteps.

“I do this to help more young people move forward. This achievement is not just a milestone; it is a gateway for Dominican youth,” Paulino said when asked by the media about how she hopes her efforts will be perceived. “It brings me great joy to see many girls today finding refuge in sports. It’s not just about escaping poverty but about moving forward,” she added, ESPN reports.

Marileidy Paulino studied in Don Gregorio, the same town that produced Vladimir Guerrero, the US Baseball Hall of Fame batter. The town is about an hour west from the capital city in Peravia province. She played handball and participating in athletics at her local public school Alirio Paulino. A local coach saw her natural talent in high jump and she eventually went to train with Cuban Yaseen Perez. She joined the Army that paid elite athletes a small wage to pay for her extra expenses and help her family. The rest is history.

Marileidy Paulino and the two boxers winners of bronze in the Paris Olympics Yunior Alcantara and Cristian Pinales returned on Sunday, 11 August 2024. The athletes arrived at 6pm from Spain on an Air Europa flight.

The Dominican Republic placed 59th in the Paris Olympics of 206 participating countries. This is only the fourth gold medal won by the Dominican Republic in its participation in an Olympic Games. The other three were won by boxer Felix Manuel Diaz in the Beijing 2008 Olympics and two golds won in the 400m hurdles by Felix Sanchez in Athens 2004 and London 2012.

The sporting system in the Dominican Republic is impacted by a system that grants millions to sports federations that usually become fiefdoms with the federation heads living well, while the athletes struggle. Minister of Sports Camacho comes from this world and has done little to correct the situation.

12 August 2024

Dolores Vicioso

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Marileidy Paulino is a star; she takes gold in Paris