PARIS, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Dominican Republic's Marileidy Paulino set a new Olympic record to take gold in the women's 400m at the Paris Games on Friday.
Paulino crossed the line in 48.17 seconds, eclipsing Marie-Jose Perec's previous record of 48.25 that had stood since 1996.
Bahrain's Salwa Eid Naser took silver in 48.53 and Poland's Natalia Kaczmarek bronze in 48.98.
"I'm very happy, I still cannot believe that just happened," Paulino said. "It was either going for the world record or the Olympic record, and thankfully, I achieved the Olympic record."
It represented the Dominican Republic's first gold medal of these Games and only the third Olympic title in the country's history.
Paulino, the silver medalist in Tokyo three years ago, won the 400m crown at the world championships in Budapest last year.
"It's the only medal that I was missing to complete the Olympic cycle," the 27-year-old said.
"I'm very thankful to God, for myself, for my job. I have been working really hard to achieve this goal. I want to dedicate this medal to my team, my coach, my family, the Dominican people that have been watching me and cheering for me."
Paulino said she planned to continue competing at the elite level and did not rule out a bid to defend her title in Los Angeles in 2028.
"I want to keep focusing on the next world championships," she said. "I'm not done yet. After the Olympic Games of Paris 2024 I have other competitions and my studies as well."
