Visually Impaired Sprinter Accepts Surprise Proposal From Running Guide at Tokyo Paralympics
After the women’s 200-meter qualifying heat at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Paralympic Games, Manuel Antonio Vaz da Vega got down on one knee to surprise Keula Nidreia Pereira Semedo with a marriage proposal.
Vaz de Vega is Semedo’s running guide, and he popped the question just as the visually-impaired sprinter crossed the finish line. She finished fourth in the race, but is not leaving Tokyo empty-handed.
Semedo was overjoyed and accepted the proposal, and her fellow competitors gathered to congratulate the happy couple.
“I really have no words. There are so many emotions all together. Just the fact of being here at the Paralympic Games, I hardly felt my legs actually because I was so nervous,” she told reporters. “Now, with the proposal, there are just too many emotions going on right now. I don’t have words to explain how I feel at this moment.
“I always had the dream of getting married but we hadn’t planned anything so far,” she continued. “We haven’t spoken about it and I wasn’t expecting it at all.”
Semedo lives and trains in Lisbon, Portugal but competes for her home country of Cape Verde. On her Olympic profile, she lists Vaz de Vega as the biggest influence on her career.
“I am sure my mom will be very happy because she always wanted me to get married,” said Semedo.
The couple has been together for 11 years and Vaz da Veiga was eager to pop the question — he had been planning to propose in Tokyo ever since she made the list at the end of July. “My two brothers and a friend of mine already knew of this. I am sure they will be very happy. My family will be thrilled. They will all love the idea,” he said.
Image source: TODAY
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