Survivor alum Ryan Medrano wins silver medal at 2024 Paralympics

Ryan Medrano is now a Paralympic silver medalist.

The Survivor alum came in second place in the men's 100-meter T38 event, just behind fellow American runner Jaydin Blackwell, who holds the world record for the event.

The T38 classification for the event is one of several Paralympic categories designated for athletes with hypertonia, ataxia and athetosis, which are often a result of cerebral palsy. Medrano, who was born with mild cerebral palsy, will also compete in two more T38 events: the men's 400-meter race and the men's long jump.

Medrano competed on Survivor 43 in fall 2022, ultimately finishing in 9th place after becoming a fan-favorite for his persistent spirit and constant fishing escapades.

"I haven't met many people with cerebral palsy, or, in my case, mild cerebral palsy," Medrano told Entertainment Weekly after he was eliminated, saying he'd heard from many parents who "were like, 'My child was born with CP and seeing you do the crazy things you do on TV is so inspiring. It's really gonna uplift us and help us keep going.'" 

Medrano added, "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... 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."

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The runner also told the Texas Standard that Survivor was the key to his athletic career because fellow season 43 competitor Noelle Lambert first encouraged him to pursue the Paralympics. "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,'" Medrano told the outlet. "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."

Lambert is also competing in Paris this year. After running track at the 2020 Tokyo games in 2021, the Survivor alum is set to take on the women's long jump and expected to break records.