Olympics-Athletics-Dominican Republic's Paulino surges to 400m gold

By Helen Reid

PARIS (Reuters) -Dominican Republic's Marileidy Paulino surged to victory in the 400 metres to add Olympic gold to her world title on a rainy night at the Stade de France on Friday and said she hoped her achievement would inspire youngsters in her country.

Paulino had been unbeaten over the distance at four consecutive meets this year and stormed to a comfortable lead halfway through the lap before finishing in 48.17 seconds on a track still wet from earlier rain showers.

Bahrain's Salwa Eid Naser took silver and Poland's Natalia Kaczmarek earned the bronze.

The Dominican had a slower start than her rivals but demonstrated her racing prowess by reeling in the early front-runners with a powerful kick that powered her to break the Olympic record set in 1996 by France's Marie-Jose Perec.

"I'm very happy, I still cannot believe that just happened," Paulino, who won silver in Tokyo, said.

"I don't come to compete for the money but because I love athletics, to help motivate the younger generations and because these achievements are also doors that are being opened for the future generations of Dominican people," she added.

Paulino, who comfortably won last year's world championships, also led Dominican Republic to a silver in the 4x400m mixed relay in Tokyo.

Before the Olympics Kaczmarek had the fastest time this year amongst the eight finalists but she could not respond to Paulino on the night. Kaczmarek was the first Polish woman to medal in the 400 since 1976 when Irena Szewinska won gold in Montreal.

"Maybe if the weather was a bit warmer, if the track was dry, maybe we could even have seen the Polish record," she said, adding that she would celebrate with champagne.

Rhasidat Adeleke finished fourth but still made history as the first woman from Ireland to reach an Olympic 400 final.

Naser, who clocked her season's best of 48.53, said: "I'm ecstatic and overwhelmed with joy and gratitude."

Double Olympic champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo was not in the final to defend her title, as the Bahamian athlete struggled with injuries and failed to make it through qualifiers.

(Reporting by Helen Reid, editing by Ed Osmond and Ken Ferris)