Mikey Brannigan has always been a runner. From a very young age, his mother said that he was constantly on the move, running, climbing and generallytearing around his home. As a young boy with excess energy to burn, it wasn’t hard to imagine how much structuredactivities like schoolwork were an ongoing problem.

That was until grade fourwhen Mikey Brannigan was introduced to the sport of running. Running provided this young man with autism the opportunity he needed to focus his excess energy into a structured activity which he could use to find balance in the rest of his educational activities.

From that young age,it was like a fire was ignited inside him, and this year at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro Mikey Brannigan ran his way to an Olympic gold medal in the 1,500 meter T20 classification. It was running through a structured athletic program which allowed Mikey to overcome some of the symptoms of autism which were holding him back in other areas of his life. At the beginning of the fourth grade, he was separate to the rest of the class, by the sixth grade he was actively participating in classroom activities with the rest of his class.

Mikey Brannigan set his dreams on running in the Olympics one day and not only did he accomplish them, but he also ran first, winning a gold medal for both him and his country. We all have dreams, and it shows that given the right avenue and hard work, anyone can achieve their dreams. If you enjoyed the article, then please feel free to comment and share.