By Miguel Rapetti
Aug 11, 2024, 11:43 PM EDT
The jubilation and celebration that arose from the arrival of the Dominican Republic’s medalists at the 2024 Olympic Games, with Marileidy Paulino (gold), Yúnior Alcántara and Cristian Pinales (bronze), almost ended in events to regret after the organizational efforts of the authorities were insufficient for the avalanche of people who showed up at the Las Américas International Airport in Santo Domingo.
On Sunday afternoon, Paulino, Alcántara and Pinales were present in the Dominican Republic and as soon as they got off the plane they were received by a military body with the nation’s flags, as well as by the country’s vice president, Raquel Peña.
The atmosphere seemed to be full as they left the plane, but the situation began to get tense when they were surrounded by thousands of fans after passing through the immigration offices, to the point of being threatened by a human avalanche as several videos on social networks pointed out.
In fact, the disorganization was such that hundreds of tourists found themselves cornered at the exit and had to wait several minutes until the area was cleared so they could leave the airport.
Outside the airport, the streets were also packed to such an extent that the black convertible truck that Paulino got into to greet the crowd could not move forward because of the number of people around it.
In fact, the press conference in which Paulino, Alcántara and Pinales were going to participate regarding their performance in Paris 2024 was cancelled to avoid any further mishap.
The disorganization also caused both Alcántara and Pinales to go virtually unnoticed, with all the followers focusing on Paulino.
The Dominicans, as they demonstrated, were eager to welcome Pinales and Alcántara, bronze medalists in boxing, and especially Marileidy, who with her victory last Friday in the 400 meters became the first Dominican to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games.
In the next few hours, sports authorities are expected to announce the location of the suspended press conference and the area designated for the celebration with the public of the Dominican medalists.
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