On its face, the thing that makes sports interesting is the contest of skill between competitors. Athletes hone their bodies and minds so on the day of the contest, they can give the best performance possible, hopefully bringing home a victory. On its own, it's an exciting spectacle.

But there's a lot more to sports than just strength, speed, agility, and endurance on display. People pick favorite teams and players because of their stories just as much as their abilities, if not moreso. Of course, some stories are more compelling than others…

When Justin was a kid, he was probably the least likely person you can imagine following a path into the world of athletics. That's because he had a physical obstacle to overcome that would make sports seem impossible: Justin was born with cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy is a type of movement disorder that appears in early childhood. It can leave people with poor coordination, stiff, weak muscles, and tremors. There can also be problems with sensation, vision, hearing, speaking, or even swallowing. Thankfully for Justin, his cerebral palsy was fairly mild but he still had a lot of difficulty walking. "I was once a kid in leg braces who could barely put one foot in front of the other," he said. There was a difficult path ahead of him to even get to the point where he could move around at the basic level that most people take for granted.

Through the support of his family, Justin was able to do a lot of physical therapy, which significantly improved his gait. Over time his strength, balance, and coordination improved to the point where he could walk without the assistance of braces. When he was thirteen years old, Justin was in such good shape physically that he tried his hand at running, again something that most kids can take entirely for granted. But Justin had quite the opposite reaction, completely falling in love with running. He joined his school's cross country at Hart High School in Santa Clarita, California but considering his cerebral palsy, he never imagined he would reach higher levels of his sport. "Growing up with a disability, the thought of becoming a professional athlete as I have said before is like the thought of climbing Mt. Everest."

"When I first set out running," Justin Gallegos said, "the goal was never to become a professional athlete or even a college athlete. [It was] to become a stronger person and improve my quality of life. Before, I would tilt my feet inward a lot and that would cause me to fall down quite frequently. I would drag my feet frequently as well in the beginning." "I did fall two or three times per week for a while, but eventually," he continued. "The reason I never quit or expressed interest in quitting is simply because I saw that it was doing more good in my life than it was doing bad." And through sticking with it, he ended up at the University of Oregon, a college renowned for its strong track and field legacy. Justin was determined to do his best in his studies and his training but his first cross-country meet didn't go well at all. His shoe came off just 50 meters into his the 8km race and he ended up coming in last place. But his performance was still inspirational, according to the coverage in the university's student paper, Daily Emerald.

And just as he had done with his physical therapy, with his first forays into running, and his high school career, he kept at it, slowly improving. He hit his stride metaphorically and physically and by his junior year, he'd set a goal for himself of getting his half-marathon time down under two hours and was just a few minutes away from reaching it. A half-marathon time under two hours is an ambitious goal even for a runner who isn't faced with a movement disorder. Needless to say, his story had only become more inspirational over the years so when a film company called Elevation 0m came to him about shooting a video of him doing a cross-country race on Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day, it wasn't all that surprising. But at the end of the race, something happened that would separate the occasion from all others in Justin's athletic career. John Douglass, the Insights Director for Nike was there with a special purpose in mind.

"I just wanted to share something with you guys. One of your teammates has been working pretty hard the last couple years and Nike has recognized that," Douglass said as he turned his gaze to Justin. "So today I am presenting him with a nike contract to be an official Nike athlete." Justin was completely overcome with emotion, bursting into tears and falling to his knees. Around him, his teammates clapped and cheered in celebration of what their friend had accomplished. "Today I made Nike history and became the very first athlete with Cerebral Palsy to sign a contract with Nike!" he would later write in an Instagram post. "You don't realize how realistic and emotional your dreams are until they play out before your very eyes."

Of his highly unlikely journey from leg braces to professional athlete, he made a statement aimed at inspiring others with physical disabilities to follow their dreams. "It is definitely possible, but the odds are most definitely in your favor! Hard work pays off!" It hadn't been Justin's first interaction with Nike. In may of 2018, he appeared in a video released for their Breaking2 campaign along with Eliud Kipchoge, the defending Olympic gold medalist marathon runner. The idea behind Breaking2 was to assemble three of the best runners in the world to try and have them run the first full marathon in under 2 hours. "No human is limited," Kpchoge said in the video. "It's not about the legs." "It's about the heart and mind," Justin added.

As for his being signed to Nike, Justin didn't see it as an end point but rather a milestone along his journey. "The journey is damn sure not over!!!" he wrote on Instagram. "Trust the process! And most of all Trust in God!" "Thank you to all my friends, family , and teammates on running club, and now a brand new atmosphere on teammates with Nike! This moment will live forever!" he added. "Thank you everyone for helping show the world that there is No Such Thing As A Disability!"