Marty Gordon
Nick Mayhugh graduated from Radford University after a stellar career on the soccer field including time spent on the U.S. National Paralympic Soccer team that played on the international stage.
After soccer was cancelled in the Tokyo Olympic games in Tokyo, he turned to the track in hopes of making his Olympic dream come true.
In Tokyo, he won the 100m T37 and 200m T37, setting world record times in both. He also won gold in the 4x100m medley.
Mayhugh, of Charlotte, North Carolina, had an incredibly successful showing at the Paralympic Trials four years ago setting a new world record for the 100-meter event, a new American record for the 200 meter event, becoming a national champion in both events as well as being ranked first in the world for both events.
“I have always wanted to represent my country on the Olympic stage and Team USA gave me an opportunity to do that in track,” Mayhugh said. “After soccer was cut from the games, Team USA recruited me to run track and I have dedicated everything mentally, physically, and emotionally to track and field. I wanted to challenge myself and see how far I can go. To see if I really can do it, and here I am, proving myself right and a lot of people wrong,”
He calls it an overwhelming feeling, a sigh of relief in a sense.
“To know that I’m that much closer to what I’ve worked for every day for the last two years. It feels good to see all the hard work me and my team have put in, pay off, but the jobs not done.”
For Mayhugh, soccer was a lifesaver. He had always noticed something with the left side of his body, thus he worked even harder to use just his right side especially on the soccer field.
“I never wanted to be looked at different or treated different because my norm was different. I remember being in my room and spending hours trying to teach myself how to tie my shoes with both hands, teaching myself to walk without a limp and even getting dressed without falling over. Going into middle school, I made a decision to not tell anybody and to keep it to myself,” Mayhugh said.
He initially had told his parents and medical personnel, but no one really believed something was wrong because he was so active.
The problem made him work even harder.
“I used to leave practices crying because I couldn’t use my left foot as well as I could my right, I couldn’t really feel it,” he said. “I think my self-awareness played a huge part of why I am in the position I am in today. I spent countless hours after practice working extra, or at home with my brother working on my left foot and doing cone drills to make myself better technically.”
He continued to work hard at the game he loved, and nothing was going to stop him from playing at a higher level. But in 2010 as a ninth grader, he suffered a grand mal seizure.
“I’ll never forget the first words my doctor spoke, I interrupted her and asked when I could play soccer again and she said she didn’t think I would ever be able to play soccer again. She initially thought I had a brain tumor. I remember seeing the life get sucked out of my mom when she heard those words, but I knew that couldn’t be true. It had to of been something else,” Mayhugh said.
The family got a second opinion, but it still wasn’t the message they wanted to hear.
Mayhugh was told he a very unique situation that medical personnel had not seen before. An MRI showed a grey circle on the right side of his brain called a “dead spot.”
Doctors said it was the result of a stroke in utero (before birth) or shortly after birth. Then all the dots sort of started to connect.
“The dead spot was just an inactive part of my brain and it made sense as to why I couldn’t really feel my left side, my arm, fingers, my leg and my foot, everything, all the nerves and pathways were inactive. I had finally had an answer for everything, and my parents finally believed me and understood why I complained and said everything I did growing up. It was like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders, a big sigh of relief because they finally believed me,” he said.
Doctors told him he would never play soccer ever again, but he was determined to continue the game he loved. He took the field on a youth team of the D.C United Soccer Academy, and soccer seemed to be the only way he could prove to the world he was not different. After some coaxing of the coaching staff at Radford University, he walked on the men’s team.
“The game itself taught me structure,” Mayhaugh said. “If I didn’t play soccer, I really don’t know what I would be doing today. It’s what I was meant to do, I thoroughly believe that, and I will continue to play for as long as my body will let me.”
Because of his medical condition, he was invited to the U.S. Paralympic team camp for players with neurological conditions.
Representing his country, according to Mayhugh, in international play was an indescribable feeling.
“I think it’s something every kid growing up playing their respected sport dreams of. To be given the opportunity to actually fulfill my dream of wearing the crest and play the sport I love is something few athletes get the chance to do, I will never take it for granted,” he said.
Unfortunately, soccer was taken out of the Tokyo Summer Games in 2020.
The success at the global level just keeps coming for Mayhugh as he also collected many accolades while playing for the U.S. Paralympic soccer team. In 25 national team games played he scored 34 goals and notched 31 assists while playing in 1,384 minutes. In 2019, he was named the U.S. Soccer Player of the Year with a Disability. He led the charge on offense for the fourth ranked national team, its highest-ever world ranking, the midfielder netted 19 goals in 11 games at the IFPCF World Cup and the 2019 Para Pan American Games.
Mayhugh continues to overcome many obstacles.
“My mentality. I’ve never let my diagnosis, or my disability define me. I’ve always had the mentality that no matter what I do, I will be successful. I am very picky of who I allow to be around me, and my family and support system are a crucial part to my career, without them I wouldn’t be here. My mom, dad and especially my brother have been my biggest fans throughout my entire life and they’re the reason I do what I do, they’re my motivation to do everything I set out to do. Aside from them it’s a personal vendetta I have with myself, I want to push myself to be the best athlete and person I can be. And until I do that, I will strive for what’s next, what else can I do, how far can I really go? And no matter what it is, I know I’ll be successful. It’s just the way I’m wired.”
Now he runs for the United States, Radford University and himself.
