Thursday, November 23rd, 2023.- In the male's shot put, F35-36-37 class (cerebral palsy), Mexican athlete José Román Ruiz clinched the gold medal during Thursday afternoon at Santiago 2023. Additionally, he set a new Parapan American record in the F36 category with a throw of 14.90 meters, achieved on his first attempt. This surpassed the previous mark of 13.84 meters set by Brazilian Joao Teixeira de Souza at Lima 2019. 

It wasn't the only record set at the Centro Atlético Mario Recordón at the Estadio Nacional. The silver medal went to Argentinian Hernán Urra, who, with a throw of 15.77 meters on his sixth attempt, also surpassed Teixeira de Souza's mark for the F35 class. The bronze went to Bryan Enríquez, with a distance of 13.62 meters. 

Román Ruiz has already achieved the mark that will qualify him for the upcoming Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. This was accomplished in July of last year at the Paris World Championships, where he secured a silver medal and set a new American record with a throw of 15.82 meters. 

On that occasion, Román Ruiz was surpassed by Yassine Guenichi from Tunisia, who set a world record with a throw of 16.82 meters to claim the top spot. 

Written by Ernesto Bustos B. – Paula Vivanco; translated by Rocio Rojas / Santiago 2023 vía Photosport 
Photo by Jonnahtan Oyarzún