Working With A New Coach Led To Joel Gomez’s Breakthrough At The World Championships

Good coaching can be hard to find regardless of the sport, but it can be especially challenging for a Paralympic athlete.

Joel Gomez had been doing just fine during his track career, competing at Purdue and making his Paralympic debut at 18. But the Encinitas, California, native knew deep down that he had more inside him. 

That led to a few contacts. A friend who ran track at California State San Marcos recommended a coach, but he had retired. But that coach pointed Gomez to Irv Ray, a well-respected coach who had retired from collegiate coaching but was still mentoring runners.

Gomez first contacted Ray just before the Paralympic Games Paris 2024. While it didn’t help Gomez much in Paris, what ensued has changed the trajectory of his career. 

After finishing seventh in the men’s 1,500-meter T13 at the 2024 world championships and at the Paris Paralympics, Gomez’s new training regimen resulted in a gold medal in the event at the 2025 world championships this past September in New Delhi.

“I knew that I was leaning in the right direction with that philosophy of not straining, but training, as coach Ray says a lot,” Gomez, 22, said. “I went back to the Purdue program through the fall and spring, and it was very similar training — more of that training, not straining philosophy.”

One of the areas that Gomez, who was born with blue cone monochromacy (severe color blindness), knew he needed to improve was his finishing, a trait that certainly stood out in his victory at worlds. 

Entering the 1,500, Gomez felt confident he could medal, it just depended on how the race transpired. His plan of staying with the lead pack in the race of 12 runners — including T12 world-record holder Jaryd Clifford of Australia and reigning Paralympic T13 gold medalist Aleksandr Kostin of the Russian Federation — worked well.

The second half is where Gomez took over. Gomez said he slowly increased his pace every 100 meters.

“Just kind of let another gear come forward,” he said. 

That was a strategy he picked up from the 2004 Olympic gold medalist Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco. Gomez was ahead at the 800-meter mark, and each segment was just slightly better than the previous. 

Gomez never relinquished the lead but almost got a little overconfident near the finish line. Just a few meters before crossing the line, Gomez raised his arms in celebration, which allowed Kostin to narrow the gap. Still, Gomez came away the winner in 3 minutes, 57.71 seconds, while Kostin took the silver in 3:57.80 and Clifford the bronze in 3:58.87.

“I did not realize that Kostin was so close to me,” Gomez said. “It was a very close finish at the end; I almost celebrated too early. I've seen too many videos of that happening, so I'm very happy that that didn't happen. I'll definitely use that going forward. I just got lucky in that end. But it was a very exciting finish, and I was just honestly more shocked.”

Gomez credits the instruction of Ray, where those with a strong kick can be staved off due to the consistent build-up, for putting him on the podium.

With that surprising victory over two of the very best 1,500 runners in the world, Gomez is excited for his future. While he took a family vacation to the island of Lombok in Indonesia to celebrate his graduation from Purdue in civil engineering, with the bonus of his gold medal at worlds, he plans to get back to training for the indoor season. One of his immediate goals is trimming the final few seconds off so he breaks the 4-minute barrier in the mile.

Ultimately, Gomez has his focus set on the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics. He said his personal-best time is 3:45.75, but he wants to take that down even further in the next couple years before LA.

“It gave me a lot of confidence,” Gomez said. “Knowing that Jaryd is a 3:40 guy, I know that I have that in me eventually, just a little bit more training and a little bit more time to just to get there, but I do hope to run under 3:40 in the future in the 1,500 and a sub-4 mile I think either this next season or maybe the season after.”

Gomez is seriously contemplating adding the 5,000-meter to his competition schedule as well. He almost tried it at worlds, but it wasn’t the right time. Gomez said he has only run the 5,000 twice in competitions.

“Neither has gone really well for me,” he said. 

Still, it is something he wants to work on.

“After watching how it played out in New Delhi, I think that I would have a good chance at doing well in the 5,000 as well,” he said.

Gomez said his obstacle in the 5,000 is his endurance, but the 1,500 suits him extremely well.

“I like that it's a good mix between speed and endurance,” he said. “It's a really exciting race to run. You have a little bit of time to think. Another race I love is the 800, but it definitely is a lot more just all-out the whole time, a lot less thinking. Any moves you make, you really have to commit to them in the 800, but the 1,500, you do have a little bit of wiggle room. You can make some mistakes and have enough time to correct them.”

Steve Drumwright is a journalist based in Murrieta, California. He is a freelance contributor to usatf.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.