Mikael Avatar — Born to Defy: The World Record Holder Who Refused to Stay Down

What does it take to become a world record holder when the world told you it wasn't possible? For Paralympic long jump champion Mikael Avatar, the answer is fifteen years of 4 a.m. training sessions, an unshakeable belief that the finish line exists even when no one else can see it, and the willingness to completely redefine what winning looks like. In this inspiring conversation with host Neil Haley, Avatar recounts how he began training for the Olympics at age 10 — not yet knowing the Paralympics existed — and how he spent a decade chasing a dream before discovering the competition that would change his life. Clinically dead for 45 minutes at birth and told his limitations were fixed, Avatar arrived at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics as the first athlete ever qualified for the long jump in his class, and promptly set a world record. Today, Avatar channels that same relentless energy into coaching, music, painting, and writing — guided by his proprietary Michaela-Tarn Method, which helps clients move through three essential stages: clarifying where they are, defining a realistic goal, and — most critically — taking action. He is blunt about what separates those who succeed from those who don't: most people never make it to the third step. Whether he is creating music with the same passion he brought to the track or helping a client find their footing, Avatar's message is the same one that carried him from a hill in his hometown to the world stage — passion doesn't care about your circumstances, and neither should you. Find him at MichaelaTarn.com.