Events are underway at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, and El Paso is once again represented on the track.
Ryan Medrano is a fitness trainer who is competing in his first Paralympics, in the 100-meter and 400-meter races – though some might also recognize him from TV’s “Survivor.” Medrano was cast away on an island in Fiji for the show’s 43rd season.
He spoke with Texas Standard on growing up being bullied because he was born with mild cerebral palsy and how he pushed himself athletically, first through wrestling and then in track.
This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:
Texas Standard: Tell us about your journey to discovering yourself as an athlete and getting to the Paralympic Games.
Ryan Medrano: So as a kid, I didn’t walk until I was 4, with mild cerebral palsy from being born three months early. I had fluid on the cerebellum of my brain; this affected my white matter and my brain’s function, both neurologically and with my cognitive function.
This kind of made me a little bit of an outcast. I was bullied a lot, but I reverted to being good at sports and pushing myself as hard as I could to be the best version of myself. Luckily, I had loving parents and a plethora of siblings to really push me and make me be my best. So, you know, growing up, I really gravitated towards wrestling, and wrestling’s one-on-one sport that allowed me to anticipate the movements of others and really push myself to be my best.
Ryan Medrano and his fellow former “Survivor” castmate, Noelle Lambert.
Courtesy Ryan Medrano
But I never really knew about the parasports and Paralympic world until I aired on “Survivor” with Noelle Lambert. She pulled me aside after we were both voted off because we were voted off back to back, and she had stated, hey, you mild cerebral palsy, 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.
Well, I’ve got to tell you congratulations on all of your accomplishments. And you’ve got to wonder what those bullies are thinking right now. What does it mean to you to be among such an elite group of folks representing your country?
It’s been mind-bending in a way. It’s stupendous to go from like, like you said, being bullied to being the top percent of athletes in the world. But it’s not only that gratitude you get from being able to represent your country, but it’s the community and the friendship you find within that community that allows you to really become one with yourself, at least for me.
Because before the Paralympic or the para track and field world, I really didn’t know as much about my disability, and I kind of shied away from it, because it made me, when I was younger, bullied, and it made life a little bit harder. So I tried to be as normal as possible.
But by being part of this community and learning more about myself and learning more about others and learning that I’m not the only one that … feels pain or gets headaches while pushing too hard, or experiences these CP problems. It really has allowed me to accept more of myself and try to become a better version of myself. That’s something I wouldn’t have been able to get without experiencing this community and pushing myself to the absolute limit to be the best, you know?
Self development has been fantastic. And the honor and the pride I have in representing and making every person that believes in me, has ever said good luck – like my mother just other day said, “I’m not surprised, but I am proud” – it’s fantastic to be able to show them that their belief was well put.
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What an inspiring attitude you have. What events are you competing in during the Paralympics, and what sort of goals have you set for yourself here?
Courtesy Ryan Medrano
So right now I already have the start rights for the 100- and the 400-meter. I have asked and requested start rights for the long jump because I didn’t long jump at trials. I wanted to make sure that my body was ready for the 100 and 400, because it takes a lot out of me.
Right now, I’m second in the world for the 400, and I have become faster in my 100. I was .07 off from third place in Japan, and I’ve gotten more than that faster. So, I’m really looking to pull out all the stops: At least second, at most first. You know, you always want to go for the gold. We’re already here. There’s no point in going, “oh, yeah, I might medal.” No, I’m going to medal; I just want to try to get the gold one.
What your training routine like now?
My training blocks usually look like a Monday, Wednesday, Friday hard days: I work out at the track, and then I work out at the gym to superset. What this does is stimulate the neurons in your brain to be explosive for sprints.
I’ve always been strong. But strength doesn’t equal power and speed. You have to translate that in your brain. So being able to do sprints and then a gym workout with Olympic lifts and structural functionality with, you know, being able to balance and have core experience, that really allows you to be functional on the track.
And then my off days, or my functional off days, are going to be Tuesday and Saturday. I do a circuit, which consists of several workouts that mimic kind of a sprinting form but allows me to work arms, legs, arms, legs, and a circuit manner to increase my conditioning.
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I’m sort of curious. You’re so inspiring with the way that you talk about how you’re going for the gold here. Do you have personal inspirations, role models, that sort of thing you may be watching?
So my personal inspirations are actually not in track and field. I would have to relate those back to my parents. I am impressed by Olympic athletes. They do fantastic. I love watching them. It is, like you said, inspirational. But my personal inspiration would be my mom and dad.
My dad is a war hero. He came from the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo, to fight for our country. And in Operation Iraqi Freedom was awarded the Bronze Star valor, for an outstanding performance and bravery in the war.
But my mom also was a stroke survivor. She was part of a class action lawsuit of women that experienced strokes from taking a birth control. When I was around 11 years old, she had a stroke that took out two-thirds of her brain. She was never supposed to walk, talk, eat on her own. But yet this woman does a market every Sunday with all the art that she paints.
She runs marathons. She does cycling without the use of her left side. She doesn’t feel her left side. She can’t see left. But yet she does not let that stop her. And as a child that grew up with traumatic brain injury or my mild cerebral palsy, it really connected me with my mother while she was going through that recovery process, and it helped her to have somebody there for her, and I really enjoyed being that person for her. And it made our connection stronger.
So having those parents that really have gone above and beyond, to have that full life and give me a life that I could be proud of and teach me, you know, to really give my all is my motivation. It’s that hand on my back pushing me forward, to become better and and show them, you know, every step, every little fit that I threw as a kid was worth it. And they’ve believed in me more than I believed in myself.
Ryan Medrano at the Kobe 2024 Para Athletics World Championships at Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium in Japan.
Photo by Marco Mantovani / Gate3 Photo Agency / Courtesy Ryan Medrano
One of the reasons I ask that question is because I can’t help but think others are going to be watching you and will be inspired by your performance in Paris. What sort of advice might you give to young athletes, especially those with disabilities, perhaps, who aspire to compete at these championship levels?
So that’s a wonderful question. I’ve actually gotten a lot of feedback from athletes that I’ve helped, because I like to give tips and things at the track. If anybody seems interested, I ask them, “hey, you want to learn something?” And I’ve had several of my athletes come and message me, “congratulations, you’re inspiring.” And it’s them reaching out and the fact that I’ve inspired them that kind of warms my heart in a way.
Not to be cheesy, but it really does put a smile on my face when somebody – not only athletic, but I have parents that have children with cerebral palsy that have been diagnosed. I recently had somebody message me on Instagram. I think their son’s name was Clayton and he’s 4 years old, started walking just a few months ago, and that was just like me. I started walking at 4.
And it’s the hope that I give, that light that people might not have had, that see my story and go, “okay, it’s not the end of the world. We have something to work towards, even if it’s not quite that level. We can’t just give up. We got to keep pushing.” And it’s that: You got to keep pushing. There’s always another day; there’s always another step to take. And it’s not giving up on yourself and surrounding yourself with people that are going to hold you accountable.
Because some days, I’m going to be honest with you, you don’t want to do it. It’s either a mental or physical block. And you got to really have a support group, whether it’s a mantra you tell yourself or somebody that really is honest with you saying, “hey, you have goals, you need to go get it,” that you need to set up for yourself. Because we are human and we have errors.
But it’s keeping that environment as positive as possible, and as easy as it is to say no, make it that much easier to say yes – to go train, to go push yourself to be that best version of yourself, so you can look back and have no regrets, and you can be proud of everything that you’ve done.
