(July 4) — Olympic and world silver medalist Marileidy Paulino from the Dominican Republic advanced to the final of the women’s 400 meters at the 2023 CAC Games with the fastest time after clocking a comfortable 51.25 seconds to win her semifinal heat on Tuesday morning.
Paulino, who is among several global medalists competing in this year’s CAC Games at the Estadio Nacional Jorge El Mágico González Athletics Stadium as part of their World Championships preparations, got off to a conservative start and cruised through the opening 300 meters of the race before taking command in the home straight to ease across the finish line.
READ MORE: Day 3: CAC Games 2023 track and field schedule, live stream, live results
Gabriella Scott of Puerto Rico finished second to her in the heat with a time of 51.44 seconds, followed by Evelis Aguilar of Colombia, who ran 51.76 seconds to also make progress into the final.
Meanwhile, Mexico’s Paola Moran won the second semifinal heat in 51.36 seconds, just finishing ahead of Cuba’s Roxana Gómez, who was also credited with the same time in second place. The performances were the joint second-fastest entering the final on Thursday.
Also advancing to the women’s 400m final was Fiordaliza Cofil, who finished sixth at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon last summer after the Dominican Republic sprinter ran 51.47 seconds for third place in the heat won by Moran.
Jereem Richards Books CAC Games 400m final spot
Moving on to the men’s 400m semi-finals at the 2023 CAC Games, Jereem Richards, the World Indoor champion from Trinidad and Tobago, impressively ran a well-relaxed 45.96 seconds, securing his place in the final.
Richards, a finalist in the Olympic and world 200m events, comfortably maintained his lead throughout the opening 300 meters and then confidently jogged to the finish line, even glancing around several times in the final 100 meters.
However, the fastest qualifier of the day was Gilles Biron from Martinica, who shattered his personal best with an impressive time of 45.08 seconds in the first heat. Jonathan Jones also progressed to the final with a time of 45.70 seconds.
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