The Christian athlete is the first Dominican to win gold at an Olympic Games. “The power of God is great”, she said after the final.
Dominican sprinter praying before the final competition / Instagram Marileidy Paulino
Marileidy Paulino made history for the Dominican Republic on 9 August by winning the gold medal in the 400m final at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
With a time of 48:17, she also broke the Olympic record, which was held since 29 July 1996 in Atlanta by Marie-Jose Perec, who lighted the cauldron of the Olympic Games last 26 July.
Paulino became the first woman from her country to win an Olympic gold medal, which adds to the two silver medals she won on her Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020.
The Dominican sprinter, coached by Cuban Yaseen Pérez, is already the fourth fastest woman in history in this athletics field.
Paulino celebrated her gold medal at Paris 2024 posting a story on social media thanking and praising God for the result of the race.
“Nobody can beat God”, was the description Paulino wrote when she uploaded a story with photos taken after winning the Olympic gold medal.
The athlete later published another post with images of herself on the track, walking and during the race, saying “the power of God is great”.
With no sporting background in his family, Paulino, 27, grew up playing improvised sports in his hometown of Don Gregorio, about an hour's drive from Santo Domingo.
She comes from a very humble family, but with a deep Christian faith. She started competing in athletics to help support her family.
At the beginning she did not even have the money to buy shoes, so she first ran barefoot and then with borrowed shoes. Today she still maintains that humility and only asks that her travel expenses be covered, as well as her coach and physiotherapist.
She never ceases to bear witness to her faith in Jesus. After her silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics, she raised the Dominican flag and her Bible; in reality she was raising two Bibles: her own and the one on the Dominican flag. On one of her shoes she wrote “God is my hope, amen”.
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