Dominican Olympian champion Marileidy Paulino in the 400 meters and the Dominican women’s volleyball team and softball team delivered gold in the closing days of the 24th San Salvador Central American & Caribbean Games.
The Dominican Republic finished in 5th place. The sports delegations of Mexico, Colombia, Cuba and Venezuela did better.
The DR won 111 medals. This included 25 gold, 36 silver and 50 bronze. In the previous games held in Barranquilla, Colombia in 2018, the country had won 25 gold, 29 silver and 53 bronze.
The best performing athletes were Nick Hardt in tennis won three golds, Yvonne Losos in equestrian won two gold and Audrys Nin in gymnastics won four medals. The media has singled out the baseball team as the worst-performing.
Nathanael Perez Neró, sports writer for Diario Libre, writes that while the DR won six more medals in 2023 than in the previous 2018 games, the numbers show the country has stagnated in sports. The government allocated RD$427 million to the 2023 games, compared to RD$168 million in 2018. Sports writers have on countless times written about how the money is flowing, but too many sports federations are not making good use of the funds.
The Dominican government has allocated more than RD$29 million in cash prizes for the medal winners, reported El Nuevo Diario. Gold medal winners would get RD$150,000, silver medal winners RD$100,000 and bronze medal winners RD$75,000. Team sport winners would receive RD$1,100,000. The newspaper reports that the Ministry of Sports has not confirmed the cash prizes. The newspaper says athletes who won several individual medals would get a single cash award.
Santo Domingo (National District) Mayor Carolina Mejia was in San Salvador to receive the torch for the games that will be held in the Dominican capital city in 2026. The games are being held in 2026 to put the celebration of the regional sports event back on track after the games were postponed due to Covid-19. Greater Santo Domingo was co-host to seven sports during the 2023 sports games.
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Video on Marileidy Paulino winning gold in YouTube min 7:25
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El Nuevo Diario
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Noticias SIN
Noticias SIN
Diario Libre
YouTube DR vs Puerto Rico in women’s volleyball
10 July 2023