Ryan Medrano, an alum of Survivor Season 43 in 2022, won the silver medal at the 2024 Paralympic Games with a personal best in the men’s 100-meter T38 final.
With a 10.97 finishing time, he placed second behind fellow American Jaydin Blackwell, who nabbed a world record at the event with 10.64. The two were shown embracing post-run as the United States went 1-2 in the race.
Medrano, who finished ninth in his season of the reality competition series, will continue on at the Paralympics with two more T38 events: the men’s 400-meter race and the men’s long jump. The T38 disability sport classification is for track athletes with cerebral palsy who have moderate coordination impairments, including hypertonia, ataxia and athetosis. Since Medrano has mild cerebral palsy, he’s qualified for the classification, which signifies lower levels of coordination impairment in the lower trunk and legs (potentially affecting one side of the body more than another) than other cerebral palsy classifications like T35 or T37. The T38 includes track events like the 100m, 400m, 1500m and long jump.
The athlete was a fan-favorite of the CBS show in his season, receiving a cash prize from pop star and known Survivor fan Sia. He competed on Survivor 43 alongside Noelle Lambert, a fellow Paralympian track runner, whom he credits with inspiring him to compete on the world stage.
“I never really knew about the parasports and Paralympic world until I aired on Survivor with Noelle Lambert,” the El Paso-born runner told the Texas Standard in a recent interview. “She pulled me aside after we were both voted off because we were voted off back to back, and she had stated, ‘Hey … you can run the Paralympics. She opened that door for me, and she allowed me to get that information to make this journey possible. Without that, I would have just been a Survivor guy, not a Paralympian.”
Taking to social media to celebrate his win, Medrano posted a series of Instagram Stories featuring his coach Kris Mack, who wrote, “Hard work paid off! We did it!” alongside a silver medal emoji.
The 2024 Paris Paralympics take place from Aug. 28 through Sept. 8.
