Growing up, Ryan Medrano’s world was anything but ordinary. Born with mild cerebral palsy that led to motor and cognitive delays, he struggled to overcome issues that none of the children could imagine. But for a former Survivor season 43 participant, what at times proved to be more frightening than his disability was the world around him. “Being young with a disability or being different made me a target for bullies,” he revealed in a recent exclusive interview withEssentiallySports. Sure, he is now a double Paralympic silver medalist, but getting here cost him his two front teeth to a bully in childhood.

Recently, the 28-year-old competed in the Men’s 100m T38 final at the World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi, finishing second with a time of 10.90 seconds, just behind compatriot Jaydin Blackwell, who took first place with 10.70 seconds. After the race, he sat down with EssentiallySports, to talk about the pressures of growing up. His father, Dan Medrano, originally from the Dominican Republic, served in the U.S. Army, but despite his military upbringing Medrano still struggled with bullying, as he explained, “For a long period of time, I was bullied.”

He shared with EssentiallySports, “In the second grade, I lost my two front teeth to a bully. It took learning who I was and the light and joy I experienced from brightening other people’s day and learning how to adapt from being a military child, moving from place to place, experiencing many different cultures and many different people to understand how I can best support myself by supporting others.”

He continued, “And even as an adult, I’m learning to now shift that perspective of how I was younger and use it to my best ability as an adult to where life has changed.” While Medrano was building resilience, his family was showing him what true heroism looked like.

Medrano also talked about his father’s heroics: “As a military child, my dad has two Bronze Stars of Valor. He is in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He earned those while there was an ambush in the convoy and he did amazing feats while in the cover of fire.” Yet it was not only his father who influenced him growing up.

When Medrano was about 11 years old, his mother experienced a severe stroke that left two-thirds of her brain damaged. The doctors initially thought that she would not be able to walk, talk, or eat on her own. However, she defied the odds, becoming a functional marathon athlete and a bicycle rider, competing in her events without the right hand, which is still not functional. But it was Medrano who helped his mother with recovery at that time.

Medrano recalled with EssentiallySports, “At one point, she asked me, ‘That’s how your brain works?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, but I didn’t have a full brain to work with in the first place, so I’m not missing anything.’ So, having the experiences I’ve had, and the environment that I grew up with, it helped to promote this perception of wanting to push just a little bit more, of being comfortable with being uncomfortable.” However, the hardships that defined Medrano’s character did not stop with the struggles of his parents.

Ryan Medrano lost his grandfather who was a great fisherman; he had vowed to take him fishing on the ocean before his grandfather’s death. But, he couldn’t. So, he paid tribute to the memory of his grandfather by fishing during his stay on Survivor as a way to find solace, as well as a meaningful connection. As Medrano added, “Many people fall short because they prefer to stay comfortable instead of challenging themselves. The life isn’t that bad or or the job they have isn’t, you know, bad enough for them to change. And I want to challenge them.” But how did his journey start in track and field?

Ryan Medrano’s seven-month journey from Castaway to champion

Ryan Medrano got into para track and field in December 2022, just after his time on Survivor Season 43. A graduate of Coronado High School, he briefly studied kinesiology at the University of Texas at El Paso but had to pause after a car accident that injured his back. His push into the sport came from fellow contestant Noelle Lambert, a 2020 Paralympian, who realized his cerebral palsy made him eligible for international para-athletics. And that conversation changed everything for Ryan’s future.

As Medrano said, “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.” Within seven months, he was already competing in the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships and came 5th place in the 400 meters and 7th place in the long jump.

Despite migraines that hit him in the middle of his brain and out, causing him blurred vision, he continues to push on. Being an elite athlete, a father, and a part-time employee, Ryan Medrano remains optimistic about his life and future as he prepares to compete in the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympic Games.