WICHITA—Former Shocker sprinter Deja Young competed throughout the week at the World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai, and she saw great success.
 
Young set the championships' record in the T47 200 meters Wednesday with a time of 24.47 to earn a gold medal. In the prelims of the 200 meters, Young set her a personal best time of 24.68, which she went on to break in the finals.
 
Young then captured another gold medal on Thursday as a member of the United States' Universal Relay team. The squad ran the relay in 46.94 seconds, and it was the only team to break the 47-second barrier.
 
To start the week, Young ran in the T47 100 meter prelims Tuesday where she ran a then-world-record time of 11.92. In the final of the T47 100 meters, Young finished as the runner-up, clocking in with a time of 11.94.
 
Assistant Director of Track and Field John Wise said Young was a tremendous person at Wichita State and that she has grown into a role model for so many around the world.
 
"We continue to be proud of Deja's accomplishments at the world level," Wise said. "As a Shocker she was always a 'big meet' performer at conference and NCAA meets, so it's no surprise she's always at her best at the international meets as well. 
 
"We are very excited to see her progress as she heads towards Tokyo in 2020."
 
In her time as a Shocker, Young earned all-conference honors on the 4X100-meter relay team in 2015. That relay team went on to place fifth at the NCAA West Regional and 16th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
 
She left Wichita State as a part of four top-10 times in school history and has been a prominent Paralympian in her time after leaving the Shockers.