Oreos, Usain Bolt and visualization: Paralympian Nick Mayhugh inspires Centenary students

Meghan Barone was nervous about the Atlantic East cross country championships. A Centenary University sophomore, Barone knew she'd put in the training, but was still concerned about Saturday's race.

Barone got advice from Nick Mayhugh, a triple gold medalist at the Paralympics in Tokyo. In a Zoom meeting with Centenary student-athletes on Monday night, he encouraged them to visualize success.

It's something he does before every race, mouthing "I'm the best. I'm the best. I'm the best." on the starting line.

"It resonates something in your subconscious and you'll perform better," said Mayhugh, 25, who set world records in his classification in the 100 and 200 meters in Tokyo, won gold with the United States mixed relay, and finished second in the 400 meters.

"Do what you have to do. Exile everything in your life for the next week, and just outperform what you even think is possible."

That's also a summary of Mayhugh's life.

Though born with cerebral palsy, the condition went undiagnosed until Mayhugh suffered a grand mal seizure when he was 14 years old. It was three days after he'd won the starting spot on his D.C. United academy soccer team by scoring two goals in each of two matches against the New York Red Bulls in front of NCAA Division I scouts.

The neurologist projected Mayhugh's MRI on the wall, showing an ominous large dark spot on the right side of his brain. Motor neurons that controlled the left side of his body were dead.

"My entire world was flipped upside down," he said. "To go home Monday night and tell my mom I would be able to take care of her and go pro and all these things, and that Thursday to be told I'd never play soccer again, I can't really replicate the feelings I had. I felt like I'd lost everything."

Changing direction

Despite the neurologist's dire announcement, Mayhugh played soccer at Patriot High School in Nokesville, Virginia, and drove hours "to another state" to train with an academy team. He walked onto the soccer team at Division I Radford (Virginia) University. However, he broke his collarbone as a freshman and partially tore a hamstring as a sophomore.

A striker, Mayhugh earned his first start and scored the game-winning goal against Winthrop on Homecoming of his redshirt junior year. But in the next game, he tore his left MCL while being tackled by an opposing defender.

The following season, he was called up to the United States Paralympic 7-a-side national team to play midfield.

Three years later, Mayhugh was named the 2019 Player of the Year with a Disability after scoring 19 goals in 11 games at the IFPCF World Cup and the 2019 Para PanAm Games.

He has 34 goals and 31 assists in just 25 international matches.

But soccer was not on the 2020 Paralympics program, another of Mayhugh's dreams dashed. However, USA Track & Field reached out and asked him to try a new sport.

Mayhugh had run longer distances to stay in shape for soccer, but was to be converted into a sprinter in the T37 classification, alongside other athletes who have moderate coordination impairments on half their bodies. 

"I didn't look up qualifying or anything," Mayhugh said. "I went straight to the top and typed in world record times: 'T37, 100, 200, 400.' I wrote down those times and put them on my wall. I had them on my wall in every single room of my apartment from November 2019 all through Tokyo."

When Mayhugh told his new coach he wanted to win a gold medal at the Paralympics, the coach laughed. But Mayhugh achieved that supposedly impossible goal three times over — and is already determined to top himself in Paris in 2024.

Mayhugh also wants to help the USPNT become No. 1 in the world. It is currently ranked fourth behind Ukraine, Iran and Brazil.

"I've become very hyper focused on what I'm doing now," said Mayhugh, who received a video from Jamaican superstar sprinter Usain Bolt after his Paralympics victories.

"With soccer in college, I wanted to become a starter, score, and win a couple of championships. That's exactly what I did. ... The way my mind works is, I'm never satisfied with what I'm doing. I achieve one thing and it's always, just, 'What's next?'"

Winning advice

Mayhugh was Zooming in from Mexico, and said he's developing a business plan while on vacation for the rest of 2021. He's spending a lot of time watching Netflix, catching up on "The Blacklist" and chick flicks. Mayhugh also loves Chick-fil-A and "will open a pack of Oreos on the start line, put them down, and run a race. It does not matter. I will look into a camera and tell people across the world Oreos are the reason I won gold. I do not care."

Describing himself as "one of the laziest people I know," Mayhugh admitted hating to wake up early. He was at first philosophical, telling students to "remember why you started in the first place, why you fell in love with the sport (and) what motivates you to do it." But for a more practical perspective, he said to put your phone on the opposite side of the room, so you have to get out of bed to turn off the alarm. He also tries to schedule afternoon training sessions, which was particularly helpful leading up to Tokyo given the time difference with the East Coast.

"He's just a typical guy," said Centenary freshman Thomas Edge, a midfielder from Jefferson. "Sitting here listening to him, you can tell he's just one of us. He went from playing soccer to, in 18 months, competing in the Paralympics for track and field. He was at rock bottom when he started. It shows if you put in that work, you can achieve what you're visualizing yourself doing."

Jane Havsy tells stories for DailyRecord.com, part of the USA TODAY NETWORK. For full access to live scores, breaking news and analysis, subscribe today.

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