The Most Famous

ATHLETES from Dominican Republic

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This page contains a list of the greatest Dominican Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 6,025 Athletes, 46 of which were born in Dominican Republic. This makes Dominican Republic the birth place of the 55th most number of Athletes behind Portugal, and Colombia.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Dominican Athletes of all time. This list of famous Dominican Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Dominican Athletes.

Photo of Marileidy Paulino

1. Marileidy Paulino (b. 1996)

With an HPI of 44.00, Marileidy Paulino is the most famous Dominican Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 25 different languages on wikipedia.

Marileidy Paulino (born 25 October 1996) is a Dominican athlete sprinter specializing in the 400 meters. She won the silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, becoming the first woman from the Dominican Republic to earn an individual Olympic medal in athletics. At the subsequent Summer Olympics in Paris, she won the gold medal in the 400 metres event, becoming only the third person from the Dominican Republic to win an Olympic gold medal. Paulino also took silver at the 2022 World Athletics Championships. At these competitions, she also earned silver and gold in the mixed 4×400 m relay respectively, running legs of 48.7 s in 2021 and 48.47 s in 2022. Since May 2023, Paulino is the 400 m ranked world No. 1. Paulino won the silver medal in the 200 meters at the 2019 Military World Games and gold for the 400 m at the 2022 Ibero-American Championships and the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games. She won the 2022 Diamond League 400 m title. She is the Dominican Republic record holder for the indoor 60 m, 200 m indoors and out, and 400 m.

Photo of Annerys Vargas

2. Annerys Vargas (b. 1981)

With an HPI of 39.46, Annerys Vargas is the 2nd most famous Dominican Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 10 different languages.

Annerys Victoria Vargas Valdez (born August 7, 1981) is a retired female volleyball player from the Dominican Republic who won four consecutive gold medals at the Central American and Caribbean Games.

Photo of Max Brown

3. Max Brown (b. )

With an HPI of 38.99, Max Brown is the 3rd most famous Dominican Athlete.  Their biography has been translated into 4 different languages.

Max Brown may refer to: Max Brown (British actor) (born 1981), English actor Max Brown (baseball) (born 1993), New Zealand outfielder Max Brown (footballer) (born 1999), English footballer Max Brown (novelist) (1916–2003), Australian novelist Max Brown (rugby league) (born 1946), Australian rugby league footballer Max Brown (politician) (died 2012), Australian politician Max Brown (Australian actor), Australian actor Max Brown (canoeist) (born 1995), New Zealand canoeist Max Brown (American football) (born 2003), American football player

Photo of Luguelín Santos

4. Luguelín Santos (b. 1993)

With an HPI of 38.84, Luguelín Santos is the 4th most famous Dominican Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Luguelín Miguel Santos Aquino (born 12 November 1992) is a Dominican sprinter, who specialises in the 400 m. He was the silver medallist in the event at the 2012 London Olympics at the age of nineteen. His personal best is 44.11 seconds. Santos emerged with two gold medals at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics and made his senior breakthrough at the 2011 Pan American Games, taking individual and relay silver medals with Dominican national record times. He belongs to the Dominican olympic program CRESO.

Photo of Kim Won-jin

5. Kim Won-jin (b. )

With an HPI of 37.59, Kim Won-jin is the 5th most famous Dominican Athlete.  Their biography has been translated into 4 different languages.

Kim Won-jin may refer to: Kim Won-jin (athlete) (born 1968) Kim Won-jin (fencer) (born 1984) Kim Won-jin (judoka) (born 1992)

Photo of Juan Francisco

6. Juan Francisco (b. 1987)

With an HPI of 36.34, Juan Francisco is the 6th most famous Dominican Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 10 different languages.

Juan Ramón Francisco González (born June 24, 1987) is a Dominican professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds, Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers and Toronto Blue Jays. He also played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Yomiuri Giants.

Photo of Emilio Bonifácio

7. Emilio Bonifácio (b. 1985)

With an HPI of 36.10, Emilio Bonifácio is the 7th most famous Dominican Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 13 different languages.

Emilio José Bonifácio Del Rosario (born April 23, 1985) is a Dominican professional baseball utility player who captains the Tigres del Licey of the Dominican Professional Baseball League. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Florida/Miami Marlins, Toronto Blue Jays, Kansas City Royals, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals. Primarily a second baseman and center fielder throughout his career, Bonifácio has also played shortstop and third base.

Photo of Jairo Asencio

8. Jairo Asencio (b. 1983)

With an HPI of 34.47, Jairo Asencio is the 8th most famous Dominican Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 10 different languages.

Jairo Manuel Asencio (born May 30, 1983) is a Dominican former professional baseball right-handed pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians, Chicago Cubs, and Baltimore Orioles, and in the KBO League for the Kia Tigers.

Photo of Julio Rodríguez

9. Julio Rodríguez (b. 2000)

With an HPI of 33.49, Julio Rodríguez is the 9th most famous Dominican Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 10 different languages.

Julio Yarnel Rodríguez Jr. (born December 29, 2000), nicknamed "J-Rod", is a Dominican professional baseball center fielder for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB). He signed with the Mariners as an international free agent in 2017 and made his MLB debut in 2022. In his rookie season, he was named an All-Star along with winning the Silver Slugger Award and American League Rookie of the Year Award.

Photo of Gaila González

10. Gaila González (b. 1997)

With an HPI of 33.38, Gaila González is the 10th most famous Dominican Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 9 different languages.

Gaila Ceneida González López (born 25 June 1997) is a Dominican Republic volleyball player. She competed in the 2024 and 2020 Summer Olympics.

People

Pantheon has 46 people classified as Dominican athletes born between 1981 and 2001. Of these 46, 46 (100.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Dominican athletes include Marileidy Paulino, Annerys Vargas, and Max Brown. As of April 2024, 45 new Dominican athletes have been added to Pantheon including Marileidy Paulino, Annerys Vargas, and Max Brown.

Living Dominican Athletes

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Newly Added Dominican Athletes (2024)

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