Local fan favorite Mikey Brannigan to compete in Paralympic Games this Friday, Sept. 6

UPDATE: Mikey Brannigan won bronze in the T20 1500m final, with a time of 3:49.91.

Northport High School graduate and track and field athlete Mikey Brannigan is back at it, this time readying for his race in the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. The games are taking place between August 28 and September 8, bringing together as many as 4,400 athletes from around the world to compete in 549 medal events across 22 sports. 

Team USA’s 220-member team includes 55 track and field athletes.

Brannigan arrived in Paris on August 21 and “is having a wonderful time, training through the beautiful trails on a lake by the Athlete High Performance dorm,” his mom Edie told the Journal. Brannigan will compete in his race at about 5am EST this Friday, September 6. 

Brannigan began running with Long Island’s Rolling Thunder Special Needs Program when he was just eight years old, after being diagnosed with autism at the age of three. The 27-year-old is a two-time Paralympian and one-time Paralympic medalist, earning gold in the 1500m race at the Rio 2016 games. He punched his ticket to the Paris games with a 3:47.97 in the Men's T20 1500m at the Team USA Paralympic trials.

In August 2016, at the Sir Walter Miler meet in Raleigh, North Carolina, Brannigan became the first person with a T20 Paralympic classification, which refers to intellectual disability, to break the four-minute mark in a 1500m. 

In February 2015, the year he graduated from Northport High School, Brannigan was named the Sports Illustrated High School Athlete of the Month in the USA.

Edie Brannigan, who lives in East Northport, left with family for Paris yesterday; she brought with her cards of support made by Mikey’s friends and fans. Fans can follow Mikey Brannigan here and here. His race will be aired on the Peacock and NBC sports networks.