Yaseen Pérez coach of Dominica Republic quarter mile star Marileidy Paulino has confirmed that the sprinter hopes to target the longstanding 400m world record in coming seasons.

Paulino has had an outstanding 2022, setting national records in both the 200m and 400m.  In addition to that, the 25-year-old athlete claimed a silver medal at IAAF World Championships and ended the season by capturing the Diamond Trophy.  On that occasion, the athlete set another national record and more importantly dipped below the 49-second mark for the first time in her career.

The time of 48.99 marks the athlete the 12^th fastest in history.  A fine accomplishment, but approaching the record of 47.60, set, and held for 37 years, by the German Democratic Republic’s Marita Koch is no simple feat.  In fact, the sprinters in the many years since have found it almost difficult to even approach the previous mark of 47.99 set by Czechoslovakia’s Jarmila Kratochvílová in 1983. 

 "That's a dream she has, we both have it. In the end, we are going to keep working. It's a tough thing, but so far everything has been difficult and we have set out on the road to the world record," said Pérez said.  Despite the difficulty, the coach points out the athlete has been taking things stage by stage.

"Next year we are going to try to establish the stability of 48 seconds. This season, we had worked very well to maintain the levels obtained in the Olympic Games and as we worked throughout the year, improving the speed part, we saw what was coming and the time of 48 became a fact. It didn't happen at the world championships because of the disruption of the relays, but we had been working to lower it.”