Underdog Dominican runner Marileidy Paulino is competing for gold in the 400m in Tokyo 2020. Paulino has already won a silver, running in the 4 x 400 mixed relay. On Wednesday, 4 August, Paulino clocked in at 49.38, a national record and personal best in the semi-final. She qualified with the second best time, only surpassed by Ann McPherson of Jamaica. The finals were Allyson Felix for the USA (49.89), Candice McLeod of Jamaica with 49.51, Saunae Miller of Bahamas with 49.60, Roxana Gomez of Cuba with 49.71, Quenera Hayes of USA with 49.81 and Jodie Williams of Great Britain with 49.97. She won her qualifying heat.
Paulino is an underdog in the final. The international press is focusing on the rematch of the 2016 final between USA’s Allyson Felix and Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas. Miller-Uibo won gold over Felix at the Rio Games in a photo finish when she dove across the line.
Paulino was the difference-making run in the silver medal relay that turned in the silver medal when last leg runner Alexander Ogando bested the United States runner with a dive for the finish line.
Suppose Paulino wins a medal in the race to take place (Dominican time) on Friday, 6 August at 8:30am. In that case, she will become the first Dominican woman to win two Olympic medals, and the only Dominican athlete of any sport to win two medals in an Olympic Games. 400m hurdles runner Felix Sanchez is the only male athlete to have won two Olympic medals for the DR, but his gold medals were won in two different games (Athens 2004 and London 2012).
Marileidy Paulino won silver in the 4 x 400m relay, yet she ran as an underdog in the 400 m qualifying round. It is notable that the narrator of the race for Claro Sports ignored her until the end when she grabbed the race.
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Olympics
Claro Sport – 5:45 minutes
El Caribe
El Nuevo Diario
5 August 2021