CHATEAUROUX, France (AP) — A spinal injury ended Adriana Ruano's chances of competing at the Olympics as a gymnast. She came back as a shooter and won Guatemala's first gold medal on Wednesday.
Ruano was training for the 2011 world championships in gymnastics, a qualifier for the London Olympics the following year, when she felt pain in her back.
Scans showed she had six damaged vertebrae — a career-ending injury at age 16 — and she spent a year recovering, wearing a brace. Ruano's doctor recommended she take up shooting if she wanted to stay in sports without aggravating her injured back.
“When I had my injury, I didn’t have anything. I started to get desperate, and I was frustrated. Then the door opened for me with this sport," Ruano said.
More than a decade after Ruano swapped the balance beam and vault for a shotgun, her doctor’s advice paid off Wednesday when she won the women’s trap with an Olympic-record score of 45 out of 50.
Ruano closed her eyes and took a deep breath before hitting her 43rd target to make sure Italian silver medalist Silvana Stanco couldn't catch her for the gold. She missed her next two shots after that, but it didn’t matter.
It was a stint volunteering at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro that put her on the path back to elite-level sports.
“I said to myself, ‘If I can’t be there as an athlete, maybe I can be there as a volunteer’, so I applied,” she said. “They put me on shooting, and I was able to watch my teammates. I could see the competition, and that was the moment that inspired me to think, ‘OK, maybe if not in gymnastics, I can do it in shooting.’”
Ruano placed 26th at the last Olympics in Tokyo, shortly after her father had died.
Coming into Paris, though, she was the defending Pan-American Games champion.
Now she has given her country an Olympic gold medal, a day after Jean Pierre Brol won bronze in the men's trap to claim Guatemala’s first medal since race walker Erick Barrondo’s silver at the 2012 London Olympics.
Stanco won the silver on 40 and Australia's Penny Smith took the bronze.
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
Guatemala athlete Adriana Olive Ruano leaves after completing Trap women qualification round, in Chateauroux, France, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, July 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Guatemala's Adriana Oliva Ruano ejects an empty cartridge as she competes in the Trap women's final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Chateauroux, France. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Guatemala's Adriana Oliva Ruano, center, Italy's Silvana Maria Stanco, left, and Australia's Penny Smith celebrate after winning the first, second and third positions in the Trap women's final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Chateauroux, France. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Guatemala's Adriana Oliva Ruano competes in the Trap women's final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Chateauroux, France. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
CLEVELAND (AP) — Lane Thomas and José Ramírez hit back-to-back eighth-inning homers and Joey Cantillo pitched five scoreless innings as the AL Central-leading Cleveland Guardians beat the Tampa Bay Rays 6-1 on Saturday night.
The Guardians remained three games ahead of second-place Kansas City in the division with 13 games remaining. Cleveland has the best home record in the AL at 44-27 and is 85-64 overall, second in the league to the New York Yankees.
Josh Naylor’s two-run single through a drawn-in infield ignited a three-run sixth that extended Cleveland’s lead to 4-0. David Fry added a sacrifice fly off Tyler Alexander (6-5), scoring Ramírez, who had been intentionally walked for a franchise-record 88th time.
Thomas and Ramírez tacked on solo homers in the eighth against Hunter Bigge.
Cantillo (2-3) gave up three hits, walked one and struck out six in his sixth start in the majors. The left-hander threw 6 2/3 perfect innings — and worked a career-high seven — in earning his first win Monday at the White Sox.
Junior Caminero had a career-high three doubles for Tampa Bay, driving in the team's only run in the eighth. The Rays fell to 4-5 on a 10-game trip through Baltimore, Philadelphia and Cleveland and are six back for the third AL wild card.
Cleveland went ahead 1-0 in the sixth on Brayan Rocchio’s double to right, scoring Andrés Giménez. Jhonkensy Noel also attempted to come home, but was thrown out on a relay from second baseman José Caballero.
Tampa Bay appeared to score in the fifth on Jose Siri’s single, but a replay review overturned the safe call at home on Josh Lowe. Thomas’ throw and Austin Hedges’ tag just beat Lowe’s left hand to the plate.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Rays: 2B Christopher Morel (right Achilles discomfort) was held out of the lineup one day after being removed in the third inning in Cleveland. Manager Kevin Cash said Morel “feels better now than he did when he came out of the game.”
Guardians: OF Steven Kwan (mid-low back tightness), who was a late scratch Friday, is considered day to day and will not be placed on the injured list. The All-Star left fielder underwent medical tests that revealed no structural damage.
UP NEXT
Rays RHP Taj Bradley (6-10, 4.40 ERA) takes on Guardians RHP Ben Lively (11-9, 4.01 ERA) in the four-game series finale. Lively was struck on his right leg by Dominic Fletcher's liner in his last start Tuesday at the White Sox, exiting after 1 2/3 innings.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Tampa Bay Rays' Drew Rasmussen pitches in the first inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Tampa Bay Rays' Josh Lowe, left, is tagged out by Cleveland Guardians catcher Austin Hedges, right, in the fifth inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Tampa Bay Rays' Josh Lowe (15) steals second base under a tag by Cleveland Guardians second baseman Andres Gimenez, front left, in the fifth inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Tampa Bay Rays' Jose Caballero tosses his bat after striking out in the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Cleveland Guardians' Jhonkensy Noel, left, is tagged out at home plate by Tampa Bay Rays catcher Logan Driscoll, right, in the fifth inning of a baseball game, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Tampa Bay Rays' Tyler Alexander pitches in the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Cleveland Guardians' Joey Cantillo pitches in the first inning of a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Tampa Bay Rays' Junior Caminero, left, gestures from second base after hitting a double in the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Cleveland. Guardians second baseman Andres Gimenez, right, looks on. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Cleveland Guardians' Jose Ramirez, left, scores behind Tampa Bay Rays catcher Logan Driscoll, right, in the sixth inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Cleveland Guardians' Lane Thomas, left, gestures from second base in front of Tampa Bay Rays second baseman Jose Caballero (7) after hitting a double in the sixth inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Cleveland Guardians' Josh Naylor, right, hits a single in front of Tampa Bay Rays catcher Logan Driscoll, left, in the sixth inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
