Deja Young poses for a portrait during the Team USA Tokyo 2020 shoot on Nov. 22, 2019 in West Hollywood, Calif.
Deja Young is ending 2020 on a high note.
The double-gold medalist sprinter announced in an Instagram post that she’s engaged to Timothy Craddock.
“As soon as I meet you I knew that you were the one,” she wrote. “Everyday that we have spent together has been amazing. Even apart it has been nothing short of amazing. Words can’t describe what you mean to me but, I promise I will spend forever searching for them. There is no love like yours and I would say yes over and over again. I can’t wait to marry youđź–¤”"
A slideshow accompanying the post shows Craddock on one knee presenting the ring, and then the happy couple sharing their first hug as husband and wife to be.
“Can’t wait to be at the wedding,” commented fellow Team USA Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku. “Congratulations! Soooo happy for you my love.”
“I am so happy for you!!” added Lacey Henderson, another U.S. Paralympian.
Young, from Mesquite, Texas, is one of Team USA’s most decorated athletes over the past several years.
Born with a brachial plexus injury that limited mobility in her right shoulder, she was a standout athlete growing up and ran collegiately at Wichita State. It was only then that she learned she was eligible to compete in Para track and field, too, and she’s been making waves there ever since.
Young went on to win the 100-meter world title in 2015, then swept the 100- and 200-meter races at both the 2016 Paralympics and 2017 world championships. Two years later, in 2019, she won another world title in the 200. Although she just missed out on another world title in the 100, finishing second, she did break a T47 world record in the preliminary round.
