CHATEAUROUX, Francia —
A serious spinal injury ended Adriana Ruano’s dream of becoming an Olympic gymnast in 2011. Thirteen years later, she competed as a shooter and captured Guatemala’s first ever Olympic medal.
Ruano was crowned champion of the Paris 2024 Games on Wednesday after setting an Olympic record in the women’s trap.
The 29-year-old shooter finished with a score of 45 out of a possible maximum of 50 shots to climb to the top of the podium at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre.
Ruano closed his eyes and took a deep breath before hitting his 43rd target to secure gold with five shots to spare. He missed the next two shots, but it was of no consequence.
Guatemala had never won a gold medal at the Games. The Central American nation had only managed one — the silver of race walker Erick Barrondo in London 2012 — until fellow race walker Jean Pierre Brol won a bronze in the men’s trap.
Italy’s Silvana Stanco took silver with 40 shots and Australia’s Penny Smith completed the podium.
Ruano was training for the 2011 World Gymnastics Championships, a qualifier for the London Games a year later, when she felt a sharp pain in her back.
An MRI showed the then-16-year-old gymnast had six damaged vertebrae — an injury that ended her career. Ruano’s doctor recommended she compete in shooting if she wanted to participate in a sport that wouldn’t cause her additional back pain.
The doctor’s advice paid off on Wednesday.
