Aidyn Wiggins is a champion!

The 8-year-old track and field prodigy from Moore, S.C., has already accomplished more on the track than most people will in a lifetime. And recently he added two more medals to an already impressive trophy case. 

The holder of six records in South Carolina, Georgia and North Carolina and 25 gold medals in his age group, Wiggins won the 100- and 200-meter dash during a grueling week-long competition at the AAU Junior Olympics in Detroit the first week in August.

“It was a lot of wear-and-tear,” said Aidyn's father, Michael Wiggins. “He ran hard the first few days of the meet, and then had a day off before the finals. He was pretty sore, so we tried something we learned during his training.”

Wiggins, who began training last September as part of the SMI Velocity Sports Performance Training program at Spartanburg Regional's Sports Medicine Institute, took an ice bath to relieve the soreness. The next day, he went out and set a personal record in the 200-meter in 29.10 seconds and then in the 100-meters with a time of 14.02.

“That really did work,” Wiggins said. “He was like a new person after that. His goal was to win and because of his hard work, dedication and training, he did.”

“We were following along and pulling for him,” said Gary Hazelwood, a Sports Performance Institute supervisor who has played a vital role in Aidyn's training. “To see his development over the past year and see him accomplish the goals he has worked so hard for is awesome. He's a great kid and his success really validates what we do here.”

When Aidyn first started training with Velocity Sports Performance, Hazelwood utilized a three-step approach to help improve his mechanics to become faster. They used speed, maximum velocity and multi-direction drills to help improve his acceleration, core strength, sprinting mechanics and flexibility. All of which are important to a young athlete with so much potential.

And so far the results speak for themselves.

“This has been a great year,” Wiggins said. “We're going to take some time off before football season. But he's already talking about beating his own record. So after football is over we will start working with Gary and the guys at Velocity to improve his acceleration and continue to get better.”

To learn more about the SMI Velocity Sports Performance program at Spartanburg Regional Sports Institute, you can call 864-560-5700. Free sports training trials are available.