2 “Survivor” players qualify for 2024 Paralympics in Paris

Ryan Medrano and Noelle Lambert will have to once again dig deep.

Two former Survivor players have gone from surviving on the island to thriving in the arena of track & field. While neither may have won the million-dollar prize while abandoned on a Fijian island, they have won something else — spots on the 2024 U.S. Paralympic Track & Field Team.

Ryan Medrano and Noelle Lambert — who appeared together on Survivor 43 in the fall of 2022 — both qualified for the Paralympic Games in Paris this summer (August 28 to Sept. 8) after competing in the U.S. Paralympic Team Trials in Miramar, Fla.

Related: Noelle Lambert reveals she was not holding the Survivor Steal-a-Vote at Tribal Council

Medrano — who was born with cerebral palsy — qualified for Paris in the men’s 100-meter T38, joining world record holder Jaydin Blackwell and Nick Mayhugh on the team. It marks Medrano’s first appearance in the Paralympics.

Meanwhile, Lambert — who lost her left leg in a moped accident in 2016 — qualified for her second Paralympic Games. While she previously competed as a sprinter in Tokyo, she will now represent her country as a long jumper after setting various records in the women’s long jump T63.

Medrano and Lambert were voted out back-to-back on Survivor in ninth and eighth place. Medrano became a fan favorite after sharing his story of overcoming obstacles with cerebral palsy, even receiving $50,000 from pop superstar and Survivor super-fan Sia.

Related: Ryan Medrano reveals the reason he was always fishing on Survivor

“I haven't met many people with cerebral palsy, or, in my case, mild cerebral palsy,” Medrano told Entertainment Weekly after his elimination. “And hearing how many people were inspired, how many people or parents 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.’ And 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."

Lambert was voted out two days later after establishing herself as a social, strategic, and physical threat. Her most emotional moment came after winning a reward challenge that forced her to cross a narrow balance beam… with only one leg, leaving her in tears of elation. “I was looking at it and I'm like, ‘There's no way I'm gonna be able to do this. There's no shot,’” Lambert told EW after being voted out. “It's crazy because I'm not an emotional person. Ever since my accident, I'm not the type of person to show people how I'm feeling. So getting vulnerable like that and kind of expressing my emotions to complete strangers… it was really cool to have them cheering for me. That really made the moment even more special.”

Their former tribemates will no doubt be cheering on both Medrano and Lambert once again when they compete in Paris during the Paralympics.

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