Nick Mayhugh has faced his fair share of personal and physical challenges as a young man who went on to defy the odds as a three-time Paralympic gold medalist, but thankfully, this athlete won’t slow down for anyone. With the 2025 New Delhi World Championships in his crosshairs, Mayhugh talks M&F though his training and ultimate goal of collecting more gold at the LA 2028 Summer Paralympics.
“I had my first seizure when I was 14,” explains Mayhugh, reflecting on how this event would finally lead to his questions being answered. Prior to that day, he’d been an active and skilled soccer player, but had always suffered with a sense that the left side of his body wasn’t as strong as the right and didn’t react in the same way. As a growing boy, there were hopes that these feeling would rectify, but MRIs conducted after his seizure clarified his condition. At first, doctors thought that the black spot that showed up during an X-ray on this brain could be a tumor, but ultimately it was determined that Mayhugh was suffering with cerebral palsy, potentially brought on by a traumatic birth.
Having only just got started with D.C. United’s Youth Academy, doctors told Mayhugh that he should never play soccer, or any type of sports again. His family understandably felt a strong duty to protect him from the risk of physical exertion. “That next six months was the hardest of my entire life,” he shares with M&F. “It was very dark; it was very sad and depressing. I wasn’t able to go to school, I wasn’t able to play sports, so I really just locked myself in my room.”
Not only did Mayhugh have to deal with the diagnosis, but he also had to get to grips with side-effects from his medication, like fatigue, dizziness, and mood swings. As his health stabilized however, the young upstart set about convincing his coaches that he could play soccer one again. “For months on end, I just walked back and forth in a straight line in my room,” he explains, in an effort to hide the limp in his left leg. “I had to change the way I played,” he adds. “I had to be more cautious and not put my head in situations that I usually would.” Mercifully, becoming active again would boost Mayhugh’s confidence, and with his family supporting him and his renewed sense of purpose, the young athlete began to blaze a trail.
Firmly back behind a soccer ball and making the U.S. Para 7-a-side National Team, Mayhugh decided to take his running skills and apply them to track and field. His Paralympic debut came at the delayed Tokyo games in 2021, and he smashed it, sprinting to a 100m and 200m world record, and earning an additional gold in the mixed 4x100m relay, plus a silver in the 400m run.
Mayhugh’s success would be a double-edged sword however, as officials later reclassified him to a less impaired category, moving him from T37 to T38. That move put the athlete in a more difficult class as he headed into the Paris World Championships in 2023. Still, despite the added pressure, Mayhugh was still able to take the podium with a bronze for the 100m sprint. It wasn’t gold though, and Mayhugh reveals that he found himself depressed at his perceived drop in the standings in Paris, feeling further disappointed that his classification was changed because of his earlier results. “That had kind of a negative effect on me,” he reflects, but Mayhugh also
notes that this has been a time where he’s learned to put his life into perspective, appreciating the things that he has accomplished, while striving for more medals but not letting sports become the be-all and end-all of everything. “I’m in a way better place now than I was,” he shares, adding that he’s incredibly motivated for the upcoming 2025 Para Athletics Would Championships in New Delhi, India. As a keen long jumper, Mayhugh jumped his personal best with 6.19 meters during the 2024 U.S. Paralympic Trials, and so he will compete in both the T38 long jump and the T38 100m spring this September at those championships in India. It’s part of his plan to become the best possible athlete at the 2028 LA Paralympic Games.
Nick Mayhugh Battles Cerebral Palsy With Strength and Conditioning
While cerebral palsy is a permanent neurological condition, “there’s a lot you can do,” explains Mayhugh, offering hope to those who also suffer. Indeed, a scientific review conducted in 2020 concluded that, “High-quality evidence indicates that resistance training can improve muscular strength in individuals with CP, with some preliminary evidence of structural and neurological adaptations.” While strength and conditioning is not a one-size-fits-all solution, and must be tailored to the individual, most experts agree that exercise provides mental and physical benefits.
“Everyone’s diagnosis is different. There’s no two alike. Will I ever run as fast as Noah Lyles? Absolutely not, and that’s alright,” says Mayhugh. “But as long as I’m pushing myself and my left side to that physical capability on and off the track, and in the gym and strength training, it’s about trying to do a little more than I think I can.”
The inspirational athlete says that while he cannot fix his brain damage, he can try to improve his abilities through repetition, encouraging his mind-muscle connection to fire as quickly as possible. “It’s very frustrating for someone who just wants to be perfect,” he admits, noting that he’s forced to contend with the annoyance of dropping a dumbbell from time to time, but Mayhugh has also found that resistance training is a great tool for the track. The sport’s star says that isometric exercises, where one set of muscles is used in opposition with another, like bicep curls or planks are of huge benefit. Mayhugh also undertakes a lot of unilateral work, using one arm or one leg to help with his symmetry.
“I love Bulgarian split squats, that’s one thing that I do almost every day,” he shares. “Not even with weight, I’ll just try to see how long I can hold a single leg RDL, or anything that I can try — just to load my left side a little more to help with my balance.”
Mayhugh has also found that receiving small physical taps on his unresponsive areas helps to activate his muscles. “One of the things that really frustrates me is I can’t feel my left glute,” he reveals. “So, when I’m in the starting blocks, and I try to push out, or when I’m striding, driving, running, those frontside mechanics, I’m trying to activate my glutes, but I can’t feel my left glute, so it’s hard for me to really use it.”
To assist with activation, his coaches take a finger and tap the area in need of a response. When on his own in the gym, Mayhugh explains that he takes a finger and taps his glute, or his hamstring, or his arms during those bicep curls, and this helps with making his contractions. To further work on his balance, Mayhugh strengthens his Achillies and lower legs with calf raises.
Looking straight ahead to India, Nick Mayhugh is not only proud of the progress that he’s made during his own experience with cerebral palsy but he’s also helped to raise money and awareness so that others may get the support that they need to follow in his fast footsteps. This athlete has always worn his disability as a badge of honor. Whether he’s wearing the pattern of a brain scan in his hair or posting motivational messages on social media, Mayhugh understands the power of making positive choices.
“I always encourage people to just be gentle with themselves, you know?” he tells M&F. “To know that it is okay to not be okay, and that’s my biggest message. Nobody’s perfect by any means but as long as you’re doing something every day to better the situation that you’re in, then life will get better.”
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