"It was very uplifting" — Survivor star Ryan Medrano strikes silver at 2024 Paralympics

The 2024 Paris Paralympics are underway from August 28 through September 8, and Survivor alum Ryan Medrano has won the silver medal by finishing second in the men's 100-meter T38 event, behind fellow American runner Jaydin Blackwell, who won the gold medal.

Ryan Medrano, who took part in Survivor 43 in 2022 and finished 9th place, was born with mild cerebral palsy. He still has two more T38 events to compete in: the men's 400-meter race and the men's long jump. The T38 classification is designated for athletes with hypertonia, ataxia, and athetosis, often resulting from cerebral palsy.

Although his time on the show was brief, Ryan has inspired many with his story, leading to several messages of support. In an August 31 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Ryan expressed that he is grateful for all the support and thinks it still feels like a dream to him.

"I responded to every single person that reached out to me. I had more than a hundred messages about people being inspired, and it was jaw-dropping..."

He further added:

"And to have so many people have that same disability or the same mindset of 'This is what's happened to me, but I'm gonna keep pushing' — it was very uplifting for me, and I had nothing but positivity come from the show after being back," Ryan Medrano stated.

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Another Survivor alum encouraged Ryan Medrano to compete in the Paralympics

During his time on Survivor 43, Ryan Medrano got hefty prize money from a fan of the show, Sia. He also met Noelle Lambert, who herself is a Paralympic athlete. In an interview with the Texas Standard published on August 30, 2024, Ryan mentioned Noelle approached him first as they both were eliminated back-to-back.

“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,” Ryan stated.

Ryan has often thanked his fellow reality star, Noelle, on social media. Noelle, who competed in the running track at the 2020 Tokyo Games, will be competing in the women's long jump. She jumped 5.06 meters on her second try at the U.S. Paralympic Team Trials in July, making history in the process. She became the first American T63 woman to surpass five meters in a major para competition.

Ryan Medrano has talked about his troubled childhood that has helped him keep the discipline to become a paralympic athlete. Born three months premature, he wasn't able to walk until the age of 4 due to fluid on the cerebellum of his brain, affecting the functionality of his brain.

Additionally, he revealed that due to his condition, he became an outcast during his school years. Although he was bullied a lot by his schoolmates, taking part in sports helped him become a better human being and cut all the other noise out. He also credits his parents and siblings for being supportive throughout his journey, which helped him become a better version of himself.

Having the disability and being bullied due to it made Ryan shy away from researching the disability he possesses. Ryan explained that his journey in Survivor made him feel part of a community and learn more about cerebral palsy problems, as he felt he was the representative of all the people who believed in him despite his disability.