Costa Rican sprinter named Americas Paralympic Committee Athlete of the Month after golden double

Costa Rican T64 sprinter Sherman Guity has been named Americas para ‘Athlete of the Month’ ©APC

Costa Rican T64 sprinter Sherman Guity has been named Americas para Athlete of the Month for May after winning two gold medals in the men’s 100 and 200 metres at the World Para Athletics Grand Prix in Nottwil.

Guity was congratulated by Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado Quesada for his achievement.

He was the clear winner in the public vote with an impressive 71 per cent of the vote.

The 21-year-old lost part of his left leg in a traffic accident in August 2017 after his motorbike collided with a bus.

Felicito al deportista tico Sherman Güity por su destacada participación en el Gran Prix Mundial de Paratletismo en Suiza. Logrando dos tiempos extraordinarios se coloca como el mejor en el ranking mundial de su categoría. ¡Bravo! ?? pic.twitter.com/YcL48T5cfN
— Carlos Alvarado Quesada (@CarlosAlvQ) 25 May 2019

He took up sprinting only six months after the accident and now seems destined for next year's Paralympic Games in Tokyo.

Guity had previously been nominated for the award in June 2018, but this marks his first victory.

The other nominees, compiled from submissions by National Paralympic Committees from across North and South America, were Puerto Rican athlete Anssell Miranda Martinez, Colombian cyclist Carolina Munevar, El Salvador’s powerlifter Herbert Aceituno and United States triathlete Allysa Seely

Guity joins fellow 2019 Americas Athlete of the Month winners so far, Colombian wheelchair tennis players Johanna Sossa and Johana Martinez, Mexican athlete Rebeca Valenzuela Alvarez, Chilean table tennis star Matias Pino, and Brazilian athlete Daniel Martins.