From the Paris Olympics straight to the Vatican. Adriana Ruano won the first gold medal ever for Guatemala and set a new record in her sport: clay pigeon shooting. And her first stop after the Games was to Rome to show the medal to none other than Pope Francis.
ADRIANA RUANO
Gold medalist, skeet shooting (Paris Olympics)
I showed him the medal and told him it was for Guatemala. And the Pope held it. I also gave him a pin of the Guatemalan delegation, which was what we were wearing at the Olympic Games.
But there was one person on Adriana's mind at that very moment, and that was her father. He had passed away a month before she participated in her first Olympics in Tokyo. And she remembers him with each win.
ADRIANA RUANO
Gold medalist, skeet shooting (Paris Olympics)
This whole time, I have been thinking about what my dad would say, what he'd be like. I imagined him at the General Audience too because my dad was really very devoted to God. I have thought a lot about him because I imagine him here with us, the whole family united. He is who I have kept in my mind the most.
But skeet shooting was not her first sport. Adriana was a gymnast, but a setback in her life changed everything.
ADRIANA RUANO
Gold medalist, skeet shooting (Paris Olympics)
I was a gymnast for 14 years. My dream was always to participate in the Olympic Games in this sport. But in 2011, when I was 16 years old, I was diagnosed with a spinal injury that had been lingering for many years. I spent a year recovering, wearing a brace. And after that year, the doctor was clear and told me: “Look, returning to gymnastics is not an option.”
With her time in the Paris Olympics over, the skeet shooting champion already has her sights set on the next Games. But for now, not everyone can say they are returning home with an Olympic gold in hand.
CA
TR: KG
