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Record-Breaking Autistic Teen Prepares To Smash Gold At Paralympics

Record-Breaking Autistic Teen Prepares To Smash Gold At Paralympics

Go on, Mikey lad.

Mel Ramsay

Mel Ramsay

Featured image credit: NBC News

Michael Brannigan is favourite to win gold at the Paralympics in Rio next month in the 150 metre race.

Incredibly, he can run a mile in under four minutes and has a world record under his belt.

He has autism, which can affect his relationships with other people as communicating is more difficult.

Nineteen-year-old Mikey is one of the best runners in the world. When he was in high school more than 200 universities attempted to get him on board with them, including Georgetown and Stanford.


Credit: NBC News

However, he decided to go to community college as his autism affects his ability with standardised testing methods.

According to Runner's World, earlier this month he ran a mile in 3:57:58 which made him the first T20-classified athlete (this means he has an 'intellectual impairment') to complete it in under four minutes.

Last year, he won gold in the 1,500 metres T20 at the International Paralympic Committee Athletics World Championship in Qatar.

His coach, Joaquim Cruz, said: "He moves his body like classical music. It's effortless."

Good luck, Mikey.

NBC Nightly News is broadcast live over most NBC stations from 6:30 to 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time seven days a week.

Words by Mel Ramsay

Featured Image Credit:

Topics: rio 2016, Autism