Paris 2024 athletics: All results, as Dominican Republic's Marileidy Paulino races to women’s 400m gold in Olympic record

Marileidy Paulino has broken the Olympic record en route to a brilliant gold medal in the Paris 2024 women’s 400m on Friday, 9 August. Her victory marks the first time in history a woman from the Dominican Republic has won an Olympic gold medal.

"This is the best of my life, absolutely it is," a thrilled Paulino said after her victory. "I saw myself as very strong, I've worked so hard and now I have an Olympic record."

The 27-year-old raced to victory in 48.17 seconds in front of a near-capacity Stade de France crowd, coming home ahead of Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain who won silver in 48.53 and Poland’s Natalia Kaczmarek who took bronze in 48.98.

Paulino only began athletics eight years ago as a means of providing for her family. Now she will take her place on the top step of the Olympic podium after a thrilling race in Paris.

“For me this gold medal means a lot. It was the medal that I needed to complete an Olympic cycle and it is a medal that my country needed,” Paulino told Olympics.com. “The truth is that it was worth it because I think it will inspire many young people who are in a precarious situation; many doors will open for them because of me.”

The Dominican entered the race as the favourite, having won gold at last year's world championships in Budapest. However, this title, won in front of a crowd who cheered her every step, will rank as the greatest of her career.

Silver medallist Eid Naser said that even though she was disappointed to not win gold, she was still thrilled with claiming a medal in a highly competitive final at Paris 2024.

"I cannot even begin to put into words what this means," she said. "I am happy and at the same time I am sad."

Paris 2024 athletics: Women’s 400m podium

Gold: Marileidy Paulino (Dominican Republic)

Silver: Salwa Eid Naser (Bahrain)

Bronze: Natalia Kaczmarek (Poland)

Discover all the results from Paris 2024 on Olympics.com.