The Mexican finished sixth in her heat and the final slipped away from her.
Her semi-final was number three and her competition lane number nine. She clocked 50.73 seconds, more than a second ahead of the two competitors who advanced to the medal fight: Poland’s Natalia Kaczmarek, who clocked 49.45 and Britain’s Amber Anning, who clocked 49.47.
Finally, Paola finished in 13th place in the semi-finals.
It should be noted that the top two sprinters in all three heats advanced to the grand final. As did the two best times after those six athletes, so Sada Williams, with 49.89, from Barbados also qualified.
