Michael Phelps Fan With Autism Sends Inspiring Message to the Gold Medal Winner

This Michael Phelps fan deserves a gold medal of his own!

Meet Austin Levingston, a major Phelps fan who is going viral for his inspirational message to the world’s greatest swimmer. Levingston, who is autistic, wrote a note on Phelp’s Facebook page congratulating him for his win during the Rio Olympics and sharing his hopes and dreams of his own.

Levingston wrote:

“Hello Michael, my name is Austin and I am autistic. I know you may not care to read this but you are one of my biggest idols and I’ve been following you for a very long time. Right now, I am currently going to college and hoping to become the first person in my whole family to get a degree. I am also a swim competitor just like you and I’m hoping to swim in the Olympics just like you someday. I also wanted to show you this thing I made which is a couple of pictures of you and me split up side by side. If you look very closely, you can almost tell that we are a bit simular (sic) to each other!! You will never understand how many people come up to me and mention how I look simular (sic) to you!!! Anyway, have a good day man!! Congrats to you on making big history!!”

The comment on Phelps’ page has been liked over 3,900 times with the page being shared over 36,000 times.

According to the Baltimore Sun, Levingston has been a fan of Phelps for a long time and has written to him before. He had previously sent the gold medal winner some online messages and some fan mail, however he never got a response.

The story of Michael Phelps, a fan in Kansas and a Facebook post: https://t.co/vPiVdgC0h3 pic.twitter.com/qWFqXJf4K7

— The Baltimore Sun (@baltimoresun) August 29, 2016

While Levingston isn’t sure if Phelps saw his message, he knows what he would tell him in order to come out of retirement.

“I would tell him to come back so I could have the chance to compete against him in a few races,” he shared. “Or maybe even be on a relay team with him one of these days.”

(H/T Time)