Tokyo, 3 September, /AJMEDIA/
Romance was in the air at the track and field venue of the Tokyo Paralympics on Thursday when a running guide made an unexpected marriage proposal to his partner after their race.
Keula Nidreia Pereira Semedo is a sprinter with visual impairment. Her guide is Manuel Antonio Vaz da Veiga. They are from Cabo Verde, an Atlantic island nation off the coast of West Africa.
Pereira Semedo finished fourth with a time of 33.04 seconds in her heat for the T11 category of the women’s 200-meter dash.
Just moments after the race, Vaz da Veiga abruptly left her on the track.
He came back to her soon afterwards and gathered other competitors and guides around them. He then dropped on one knee and asked Pereira Semedo to marry him.
Then, Vaz da Veiga took a ring out of a small box and slipped it on the ring finger of her left hand. The pair embraced as the stadium erupted in celebratory cheers and applause.