The world’s best female 400 meter runner, Marileidy Paulino, once again conquered the race in the Diamond League meets, this time at thew Kamila Skolimowska Memorial competition in Silesia, Poland held on Saturday, 16 August 2025.
With her win on Saturday, Paulino was the first to qualify for the 400m final and now will await the selection of the other contestants that will compete in the Lausanne Diamond League meet.
To win in Poland, Paulino had to dig deep to once again outrun her arch-rival Salwa Eid Naser, the Nigerian now running for Bahrain and herself a former world champion. The Dominican won the race by just 0.09 seconds, 49.18 against 49.27. This is Paulino’s third victory in the Diamond League.
The race came with US$10,000 for the qualifying meet and RD$50,000 for the final.
After winning three Diamond League meets, Paulino is the top winner in the race with 24 points, followed by Salwa Eid Naser (22), Lieke Klaver (Netherlands) (22), Amber Anning (UK), Henriette Jaeger (Norway), Isabella Whittaker (USA), Natalia Bukowiecka (Poland) and Martina Weil (Chile).
Meanwhile, Paulino chose not to compete in the 400m in the next Diamond League stop in Lausanne. Instead, she is registered to compete in the 200m. In the 200m, Paulino is ranked 33rd in the world.
Paulino’s training so far has been geared towards winning the 400m in the World Athletics Championships scheduled for Tokyo, Japan, from 13 to 21 September 2025. Paulino won her first Olympic individual medal, a silver in the 400m in the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021, racing in an empty Olympic stadium. Her goal now is to set the world record in that championship that will feature around 2,000 athletes from approximately 200 countries.
The Diamond League Poland competition serves as a major tune-up.
At the World Athletics Championships, athletes receive a $100,000 bonus for breaking a world record. This bonus is in addition to any prize money earned for their performance in the event itself
Marileidy Paulino already is the owner of the 400m Olympic record in the women’s 400m, set in the final at the Paris 2024 Olympics, where she won gold with a time of 48.17 seconds, enough to break the previous Olympic record of 48.25 seconds set by Marie-José Pérec in 1996.
Marileidy Paulino’s long-time coach is Cuban Yassen Pérez Gómez. Perez Gomez came to the Dominican Republic in 2013, recruited by then Minister of Sports Jaime David Fernandez Mirabal who sought to improve the level of Dominican athletes. In 2022, Perez Gomez was awarded Dominican nationality to facilitate his international travels.
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El Dia
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Listin Diario
Diamond League
Flotrack
World Athletics Championships
18 August 2025