The inspiring story of Marileidy Paulino: Discovered by the sports minister – on a handball court
The Dominican Olympic silver medallist could win her first Pan American Games medals in Santiago when she competes in the 4x400m mixed relay and the 200m.
Athletics
Two months after becoming world champion in the 400m, Marileidy Paulino’s season is far from over. Her focus is now firmly fixed on winning her first Pan American Games medal.
The Dominican Republic history maker has chosen to compete in the 200m in Santiago, an event in which she also holds the national record.
But stepping down from the 400m is a much easier switch for the sprinter whose running talent was first spotted on the handball court. The then-sports minister of her country watched her playing, and Paulino was then recruited by the nation’s athletics federation.
She “feels prepared and in great condition” ahead of her first event, the mixed 4x400m relay.
The Olympic silver medallist will then run the 200m semifinal on Wednesday, 1 November, at the Coliseo del Estadio Nacional Julio Martinez, where she goes in as one of the favourites.
Marileidy Paulino: From a promising handballer to an unassuming track star
Paulino is a runner of few words. The sprinter prefers to let her performances do the talking. On track, she is forceful and dominant, and off it, she is a humble and simple woman who tries to avoid the spotlight whenever she can.
When she won the world mixed 4x400m relay gold in Eugene last year, she was relieved to be in the company of her teammates as they celebrated Dominican Republic’s first gold medal at the Championships in nearly two decades. Then this year in August, she won the women's 400m world title.
But despite that significant achievement, becoming the first Dominican woman to achieve an individual gold medal, she struggled to deal with the ensuing attention.
It wasn’t because she still couldn’t believe that she’d won the 400m gold medal, joining Felix Sanchez as the only Dominicans with an individual gold medal at the World Athletics. It was just Paulino being herself.
“This is something very big, since I come from a poor, humble family.
“I have been working hard for a long time, working hard to achieve this goal. The gold medal was my dream, and I had the talent to turn this dream into reality,” she told Olympics.com shortly after her golden moment that followed years of sacrifice.
Paulino, who also played volleyball in her younger days, had walked away from handball – a sport that a Physical Education teacher suggested she should try alongside track and field – after topping a jumping test.
“They told me to switch to athletics, but I didn't want to know about athletics. I told them, ‘No, no and no’. Finally, I did it. At first, it became something that I did it for the money, then it became love,” she said in a different interview.
Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic was discovered on the handball court by the country's sport minister.
Running, a way out of poverty for world champ Marileidy Paulino
The promising handball player who almost made the national team turned out to be an outstanding sprinter, but her motivation to stay on track was straightforward: escaping childhood poverty.
The fifth of six children grew up in a single-parent family. She kept training and running barefoot because there was an incentive.
“I came to athletics because they started paying me, and I said, 'Well, they're giving me something here.' I had to stay here even if it was hard," said the corporal from the Dominican Air Force of her early days on track.
“I started running barefoot, then I did it with a sock. Afterwards, I think they gave me some sneakers, then I was able to buy some. Everything was a process. I remember that when they took me to my first coach, the first day I ran away because I couldn't stand the training. I couldn't stand that demand, but then they came looking for me again.”
It turned out to be a worthwhile decision. Her exploits as a 100m and 200m athlete earned her a flat from the government, her first life-changing moment.
Then, under the guidance of her Cuban coach Yaseen Perez Gomez, Paulino stepped up to the 400m in 2020 with great success.
Her qualification for and eventual silver at the Tokyo Olympics behind Bahamian Shaunae Miller-Uibo was confirmation of her indefatigable spirit in rising to challenges, and also her exceptional athletic prowess.
Whenever she reflects on her Olympic achievement, she is still clearly blown away by the huge reception that awaited her on arrival in the capital, Santo Domingo, and the opportunities it opened for her family.
Retired baseball star Vladimir Guerrero, the other famous athlete from her hometown of Nizao, gave her mum a TV so she could watch her daughter compete. “It was something incredible!” she recalls.
Marileidy Paulino is running for something bigger than medals
Paulino’s ego remains firmly in place. More pertinent to her is the running legacy and that her story epitomises the possibilities for young Dominicans who embrace self-belief, hard work and fortitude.
“I feel proud of myself, but for me the best thing in the end is that all these good results will make young people practise and play sports, want to do athletics and have a dream,” she said after the gold medal in Budapest.
“When someone wins, children always see it as motivation for them to take the first step.
“I love children, I love people who are hungry to dream. When I started going to championships, I remember that some children coming to my house to look for me, and they would be shouting, 'Marileidy, Marileidy'… And when they were told I was not at home as I was out training or competing, they would cry.”
The double world gold medallist put off celebrations for her recent world title because she wanted to focus on her next goal - the Pan Am Games.
She was disappointed to miss out on a medal at the 2019 edition of the Games, where she couldn’t get past her 100m or 200m heats.
Now, just a few days after turning 27, she is back with a vengeance.