Latinas Who Made Paris Olympics History in Final Days

Marileidy Paulino won in the 400 meters becoming the first woman from the Dominican Republic to win Olympic gold

Marileidy Paulino Olympics — Marileidy Paulino, of the Dominican Republic, celebrates winning the women's 400-meter final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

August 12, 2024 - 15:17

The Paris Olympics have been recognized for female athletes dominating and that’s also the case among the Latinas competing. Within days of the games starting on July 26, fans saw Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade, Mexican-Kenyan judoka Prisca Awiti Alcaraz, and Guatemalan shooter Adriana Ruano Oliva all make history. Since then we’ve seen Latinas like Brazil’s Larissa Pimenta, Argentina’s Diana Taurasi, and Colombia’s Tatiana Renteria take home medals. Before the Paris Olympics came to an end on Sunday, Aug. 12, we also got to see more Latinas make their country’s proud and make history along the way. On Aug. 4, Chilena Francisca Crovetto Chadid won her country’s first Olympics medal of any kind since 2008. Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade officially became Brazil’s most decorated Olympian when she took home the gold medal Aug. 5. in the floor final. Ecuadorian wrestler Lucía Yépez made history for her country on Aug. 8 when she won the silver medal in the women’s freestyle 53 kg wrestling event, earning her homeland’s first medal in wrestling. There was also Marileidy Paulino who won gold in the 400 meters Friday, Aug. 9 becoming the first woman from the Dominican Republic to win gold in any Olympic sport. They each made their la patria proud and secured a spot in history with their wins.

Gymnast Rebeca Andrade had earned her country one bronze and two silver medals before closing it out winning the gold in the floor exercise with a score of 14.166, narrowly beating out Simone Biles who took home silver with a score of 14.133. Both women, alongside Jordan Chiles, who won the bronze medal, made history as the FIRST all-Black podium in men or women’s gymnastics at the Olympics.

“We can show the Black Power,” Andrade said after the final. “I love myself, my skin color. But I’m also not focused on that. Rebeca goes beyond her color.”

Lucía Yamileth Yépez Guzman took home the silver medal after losing to Japanese wrestler Akari Fujinami in the finals. She competed on Aug. 8 in the women’s freestyle 53 kg against Germany’s Annika Wendle in the semifinals and securing her spot in the finals. The 23-year-old started wrestling when she was 10 and has earned several medals on her path to the Olympics. At the starts of the Olympics, the Ecuadorian government announced cash prizes for medalists including silver medalists $125,000 so after her win she promised her mom a new house. “I am going to buy you the house of your dreams. You will not have to work anymore, Mommy,” Yepez declared.

Crovetto is Chile’s first female Olympian and the first Chilean gold medalist since the 2004 Athens Olympics, when Nicolás Massú won men’s tennis gold in singles and in doubles with Fernando González. Previously, Chile’s only shooting medal was a skeet silver in 1988 for Alfonso de Iruarrízaga, when skeet was a mixed-gender event. The 34-year-old beat Britain’s Amber Rutter 7-6 in the shoot-off after they had finished equal on 55 out of 60 which led to the shoot-off.

“I still don’t believe it,” Crovetto Chadid said after her win. “I was so focused on trying to hit every target and pass every step of this final. I think I will realise tomorrow what happened.”

Marileidy Paulino won gold in the 400 meters Friday to become the first woman from the Dominican Republic to win gold in any Olympic sport. It was the Dominican Republic’s first gold since Felix Sánchez won the 400 hurdles in 2012. The 27-year-old also set set an Olympic record of 48.17 seconds, breaking the previous record of 48.25 seconds by France’s Marie-José Pérec in 1996. She is a Dominican Air Force Second and the second youngest of six siblings with no sporting background in the family.

“I started running barefoot, then wore socks, running shoes and then borrowed spikes until I was able to buy a pair,” she previously told Olympics.com. Paulino was chosen as a flag bearer for the Dominican Republic in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“We have been developing and showing that this is not just for the developed countries,” Paulino told the Associated Press. “The Dominican Republic is having a rebirth.”

Below are the Latinas who’ve medaled since our previous list of Latina Olympians was published at the start of the Paris Olympics: