PETALING JAYA, Sept 6 — It was an unforgettable day for Cape Verde athlete Keula Nidreai Pereira Semedo 

Semedo finished fourth in the event in the Tokyo Paralympics 2020 Women’s 200m T11 Heat 4 event and received a marriage proposal from her guide and partner Manuel Antonio Vaz da Veiga after the race.

Vaz da Veiga immediately got down on one knee and asked Semedo to marry him with other guides and athletes celebrating the moment.

A GIF shared by the official Twitter handle of the ParaAthletics showed the moment the guide proposed the athlete shortly after the 200-metre women’s race last Thursday.

 

 

Semedo told CNN that she was overwhelmed with emotions.

“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. 

“We haven’t spoken about it and I wasn’t expecting it at all.”

Semedo, a visually-challenged runner, needed a guide to help them around the track and were connected by a tether.

Semedo spends most of her time living in Portugal and has listed Vaz da Veiga as her guide, who is now her fiance as one of her biggest inspirations.