You win some, and you lose some! Cape Verde sprinter Keula Nidreia Pereira Semedo, well understands the meaning of these words after what she experienced on the Paralympic race track in Tokyo.
The athlete Semedo missed the qualification for the semi-finals of the 200-metre women’s race on Wednesday, but she returned from the Tokyo Paralympics with a win and an experience that she will be able to forget in her life. Having finished fourth at the tournament, she tried to collect herself. Meanwhile, Manuel Antonio Vaz da Vega, her guide, who also ran with her across the finish line did something neither she nor the other athletes and the spectators expected! He dropped to the knee and asked her to marry him. And the best part is she said “yes”.
This proposal on the track and in the stadium was captured by the media on camera and it won the hearts of all those present in the stadium.
Keula Nidreia Pereira Semedo from Cape Verde got a surprise marriage proposal from guide after her Tokyo Paralympics 2020 Women's 200m T11 Heat 4 event.#YouDeserveIt #Paralympics pic.twitter.com/ZR6Lq7EwOb
— SABC Sport (@SPORTATSABC) September 2, 2021
The video was shared by the official Twitter handle of the ParaAthletics showed the moment the guide proposed to the athlete shortly after the race on Wednesday. The other athletes and their guides were seen celebrating the moment with a round of applause.
When Vaz da Veiga slipped the ring in her finger, Semedo was all smiles and beaming with joy and happiness.
The official Twitter handle tweeting the clip said: “May the two of them run together for life!”
Many others shared Semedo's excitement and praised the new companionship.
Semedo in her Paralympics profile, cited her guide as having a great influence on her. She also said that she took up athletics at age of 15 in Cape Verde after one of her teachers encouraged her to try the sport.
Also read: IAS officer Suhas Yathiraj wins badminton silver medal at Tokyo Paralympics
