1,500m and 5,000m events (T13). Running in heat 3 in the 1,500m, he clocked a time of 4:19.60, well below his performance eight years earlier. Fifth in his heat, he did not advance to the final. There was disappointment, too, in the 5,000m, where his time of 16:54.95 was by far the slowest in his heat, and significantly below his prior achievements. Thus, for the first time, he returned from the Games without a medal. He was, however, awarded the Whang Youn Dai Overcome Prize by the International Paralympic Committee, "a special award for athletes who can best represent the Paralympic spirit", during the Games' closing ceremony. He was one of two recipients of the award, along with South African swimmer Natalie du Toit. The award came with "a medal made out of 75 grams pure gold". A farmer by profession, Gomez has also been coaching able-bodied children and children with disabilities since 1982. References 1966 births Living people Paralympic athletes of Panama Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for Panama Paralympic silver medalists for Panama Paralympic bronze medalists for Panama Visually impaired middle-distance runners World record holders in Paralympic athletics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Panamanian male middle-distance runners Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 2007 Parapan American Games Paralympic middle-distance runners