Tico wins gold medal at Para Athletics Grand Prix

When Sherman Güity lost part of his left leg after a traffic accident in 2017, he pledged to return to the track and become Costa Rica’s best paralympic athlete.

He’s well on his way to meeting that promise.

Güity earned a gold medal in the 200-meter T64 at the 2019 Para Athletics Grand Prix in Nottwil, Switzerland on Friday, with a time of 22.65.

The mark put Güity atop the world rankings, besting the United States’s Henry Waterman, according to the Costa Rican Olympic Committee.

The organization shared the following recap of the award-winning race:

Despite a small slip in the exit, Sherman Güity came out like a fireball in lane 5.

Flanked by two Dutchmen in lanes 4 and 6, Sherman looked ahead at all times, accelerating after the 100 meter curve to finish successfully in first place.

He left the Europeans behind: Ronald Hertog with the silver medal and a time of 00:22.99, and Levi Vloet with the bronze medal at 00:23.68.

After the finish, he smiled and took a chocolate from his backpack to eat it with satisfaction.

“I had a little stumble at the start, but in the end I managed to recover and make a good time, improving the best time of the year,” Güity said after the race. “Now, I have to run the semifinal of the 100 meters, where I hope to give everything.” 

And give everything he did. Hours after setting a new record in the 200-meter race, Güity finished first in that 100-meter semifinal to advance to Saturday’s championship event.

 

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¡¡Extraordinario Sherman Güity!! El velocista costarricense se quedó con el ORO 🥇 en los 200m T64 en el Grand Prix de Nottwil 🇨🇭 Su tiempo de 22.65 es la nueva mejor marca MUNDIAL del año en este evento. ¡Felicitaciones y a seguir por más! 🎉🎊👏 #CostaRica 🇨🇷 #ParaAtletismo #GrandPrix

A post shared by Americas Paralympic Committee (@paralympicsapc) on May 24, 2019 at 7:57am PDT