EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Ryan Medrano, 27, was born with mild cerebral palsy and was not supposed to walk. He conquered that at an early age and is now on the cusp of representing Team USA at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, just less than two years after beginning his journey as a Paralympic athlete.
Ryan Medrano, Para track and field Team USA
“Sometimes I really have to take a second and realize that in less than two years, I went from not running track to competing at multiple world championships, international Parapan American, setting two records against all the Americans and setting PRs for myself and placing second in the world in an event that I’ve been training for the last year,” Medrano said.
This Saturday, July 20, Medrano will be participating in the 2024 US Paralympic Team Trials in Florida, competing for a chance to represent the stars and stripes at the Paris Paralympics as a 100m and 400m sprinter in the T-38 class.
T-38 is a disability sport classification for athletes with cerebral palsy or traumatic brain injury who have mild to moderate coordination impairments.
Athletes in the T-38 class are the most able and least impaired among the T-30 classification groups, according to Medrano.
Medrano heads into the weekend on the heels of sustained success over the span of a year-and-a-half, competing in Para Athletics World Championships, Pan American and Parapan American Games held in Santiago, Chile in 2023.
SANTIAGO, CHILE – NOV 21: Ryan Medrano de Estados Unidos durante las final de los 400m T38 en el centro atletico Mario Recordon en el Parque Estadio Nacional el 21 de Noviembre en Santiago, Chile. / Ryan Medrano of United States during the finals of the 400m T38 at the Mario Recordon athletic center at the Parque Estadio Nacional on November 21 in Santiago, Chile. (Foto de Marcelo Hernandez/Santiago 2023 vía Photosport).
SANTIAGO, CHILE – NOV 21: Ryan Medrano de Estados Unidos medalla de oro, Jose Chessani de Mexico medalla de plata y Dixon Hooker de Colombia medalla de bronce durante la premiacion de los 400m T38 en el centro atletico Mario Recordon en el Parque Estadio Nacional el 21 de Noviembre en Santiago, Chile. / Ryan Medrano of the United States gold medal, Jose Chessani of Mexico silver medal and Dixon Hooker of Colombia bronze medal during the awards ceremony of the 400m T38 at the Mario Recordon athletic center at the Parque Estadio Nacional on November 21 in Santiago, Chile. (Foto de Marcelo Hernandez/Santiago 2023 vía Photosport).
SANTIAGO, CHILE – NOV 22: Ryan Medrano de Estados Unidos durante las final de los 100m T38 en el centro atletico Mario Recordon en el Parque Estadio Nacional el 22 de Noviembre en Santiago, Chile. / Ryan Medrano of United States during the finals of the 100m T38 at the Mario Recordon athletic center at the Parque Estadio Nacional on November 22 in Santiago, Chile. (Foto de Marcelo Hernandez/Santiago 2023 vía Photosport).
SANTIAGO, CHILE – NOV 22: Ryan Medrano de Estados Unidos durante las final de los 100m T38 en el centro atletico Mario Recordon en el Parque Estadio Nacional el 22 de Noviembre en Santiago, Chile. / Ryan Medrano of United States during the finals of the 100m T38 at the Mario Recordon athletic center at the Parque Estadio Nacional on November 22 in Santiago, Chile. (Foto de Marcelo Hernandez/Santiago 2023 vía Photosport).
SANTIAGO, CHILE – NOV 22: Ryan Medrano de Estados Unidos durante las final de los 100m T38 en el centro atletico Mario Recordon en el Parque Estadio Nacional el 22 de Noviembre en Santiago, Chile. / Ryan Medrano of United States during the finals of the 100m T38 at the Mario Recordon athletic center at the Parque Estadio Nacional on November 22 in Santiago, Chile. (Foto de Marcelo Hernandez/Santiago 2023 vía Photosport).
SANTIAGO, CHILE – NOV 22: Ryan Medrano de Estados Unidos durante las final de los 100m T38 en el centro atletico Mario Recordon en el Parque Estadio Nacional el 22 de Noviembre en Santiago, Chile. / Ryan Medrano of United States during the finals of the 100m T38 at the Mario Recordon athletic center at the Parque Estadio Nacional on November 22 in Santiago, Chile. (Foto de Jonnathan Oyarzun/Santiago 2023 vía Photosport).
SANTIAGO, CHILE – NOV 23: Nathaniel Medrano de Estados Unidos medalla de oro, Santiago Solis de Colombia medalla dude plata y Jose Chessani de Mexico medalla de bronce durante la premiacion de los 100m T38 en el centro atletico Mario Recordon en el Parque Estadio Nacional el 23 de Noviembre en Santiago, Chile. / Nathaniel Medrano from the United States gold medal, Santiago Solis from Colombia silver medal and Jose Chessani from Mexico bronze medal during the awards ceremony of 100m T38 at the Mario Recordon athletic center at the Parque Estadio Nacional on November 23 in Santiago, Chile. (Foto de Marcelo Hernandez/Santiago 2023 vía Photosport).
Photos courtesy of Medrano
Medrano won gold at the Parapan Games and set new records in both the men’s 100m and 400m – T38 class. He currently ranks as the second fastest 400m sprinter in the world, and fifth fastest in the 100m for the men’s T-38 class.
But unlike most, Medrano hasn’t been training in track and field for most of his life, how he found the inspiration to try it is unique.
He participated in CBS’ Survivor TV series, where he met 2020 Paralympian Noelle Lambert, who encouraged him to try it out.
“I was on the show thinking, ‘I’m going to do awesome, I got mild-cerebral palsy, this is going to be awesome.’ But then I see somebody (Lambert) that has only one and a half legs and she’s kicking butt up and down,” Medrano said.
Medrano said that Lambert approached him after and told him he could participate in the Paralympics if he began training and running in national and international track meets he could potentially make it to the Paralympics.
Fast forward to today, and Medrano just has a couple of steps left to take in order to reach that goal.
“I already overcame ‘never supposed to be able to walk, what more can I do?’ I’m going to continue to succeed,” Medrano said.
“Going from not knowing if you’re good enough, to making it to a national team, to then competing at the highest level of athletic ability in track and field for para-athletes. I’m done doubting myself, I’m at that point where I’m like, ‘Just execute man, you do fantastic in practice, just bring that to the track.’”
Medrano’s short journey as a Paralympic athlete has come with hurdles and challenges. He trains individually every week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at the Franklin and Coronado High School tracks, while balancing time with a job to provide for his family. His coach lives in a separate state and cannot provide him instant feedback.
For the Paralympic Trials this weekend, he is calling on the Borderland for support. His food, stay, and flight tickets all have to come out from his pocket and has set up a GoFundMe to raise funds.
“To the Borderland, 915, and Sun City the support you give me allows me to mentally focus on the track, which allows my brain to focus on my form, speed, breathing, rather than stressing about everything that I need to provide back home,” Medrano said.
You can find the GoFundMe here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-get-me-to-nationals-and-paris-trials.
“I’m really pushing to try to get that gold and bring that home for the Sun City. To be able to repay everybody that’s ever believed in me, every donation I’ve gotten, every friend that said, ‘I believe in you,’ it’s like a push on the back to push me past that finish line, whether I want to or not, and it gives me an opportunity to make everybody proud.”
For Medrano, representing the stars and stripes in the Paralympics would be a special privilege.
For one, his father and grandfather are military veterans, and he was never able to follow in their footsteps, as a result of his disability. Two, his mother is a stroke-survivor and was not supposed to walk and talk, just like Medrano, but has also overcome several of those challenges.
“To have those types of parents to look up to is something that really pushes you to want to make them proud, to tell them: ‘you instilled something in me that made me one of the best in the world,’” Medrano said.
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