Ryan Medrano (born August 26, 1997) is an American Paralympian track and field athlete. He represented the United States at the

2024 Summer Paralympics The 2024 Summer Paralympics (), also known as the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games (), and branded as Paris 2024, were the 17th Summer Paralympic Games, an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event governed by the International P ...

where he won two silver medals. Additionally he is a

Parapan American Games The Parapan American Games is an international multi-sport event for athletes with physical disabilities held every four years after every Pan American Games. The first Games were held in 1999 in Mexico City, Mexico. The 2003 Parapan American Ga ...

gold medalist and a

World Para Athletics Championships The World Para Athletics Championships, known as the IPC Athletics World Championships prior to 2017, are a biennial Paralympic athletics event organized by World Para Athletics, a subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). It ...

silver medalist. He competed on the 43rd season of ''

Survivor Survivor(s) may refer to: * one who survives Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Survivors, characters in the 1997 KKnD series#Armies, ''KKnD'' video-game series * ''The Survivors'', or the ''New Survivors Foundation'', a fictional ...

''.

Early life

Medrano was born three months early, which resulted in fluid in the

cerebellum The cerebellum (: cerebella or cerebellums; Latin for 'little brain') is a major feature of the hindbrain of all vertebrates. Although usually smaller than the cerebrum, in some animals such as the mormyrid fishes it may be as large as it or eve ...

of his brain. Additionally he was born with

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, spasticity, stiff muscles, Paresis, weak muscles, and tremors. There may b ...

''Survivor''

In fall of 2022 Medrano appeared on the 43rd season of ''

''. He was voted off on day 17 and was the third member of the jury. While competing on the show he met 2020 Paralympic athlete Noelle Lambert, who informed him that cerebral palsy was a recognized

disability sport classification Disability sports classification is a system that allows for fair competition between people with different types of disabilities. Historically, the process has been overseen by 2 groups: specific disability type sport organizations that cover mul ...

and he could compete internationally as a para-athlete.

Para athletic career

Medrano began para athletic training in December of 2022. In July of 2023 Medrano competed at his first

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

, finishing fifth in the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

and seventh in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

. In November he competed at the 2023 Parapan American Games. While there he won gold in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

and

. Medrano competed at the

2024 World Para Athletics Championships The 2024 World Para Athletics Championships was a para-athletics meet organized by the World Para Athletics, the respective sport branch of the International Paralympic Committee. This was the 11th edition of the event and was held at Kobe Univ ...

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

, Japan. While there he won silver in the

behind fellow American Jaydin Blackwell. He qualified to compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games. While there he won silver in

and

, once again behind Blackwell in both.

References

External links

* *
Ryan Medrano
at the

Paris 2024 Summer Paralympics The 2024 Summer Paralympics (), also known as the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games (), and branded as Paris 2024, were the 17th Summer Paralympic Games, an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event governed by the International P ...

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Medrano, Ryan 1997 births Living people Track and field athletes from Georgia (U.S. state) Track and field athletes from Texas Paralympic track and field athletes for the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Paralympic silver medalists for the United States Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) 21st-century American sportsmen Athletes (track and field) at the 2023 Parapan American Games Medalists at the 2023 Parapan American Games Parapan American Games gold medalists for the United States Parapan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Parapan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Sportspeople from Savannah, Georgia