Mikayla is a beautiful, young lady with Down syndrome who has a passion for dancing and loves to express herself through her dancing. She is a Model,
Keynote Speaker, Best Buddies Global Ambassador, Miss Stillwater USA 2023,
Special Olympian, Miss Amazing Queen and a Self-Advocate.
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Mikayla has not let Down syndrome stop her from achieving many great things. She describes herself as “having a little Down syndrome on the side.” This coming from someone who was born prematurely with multiple medical issues and considered very fragile her first year of life.
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Mikayla entered her first pageant in 2015 when she won the Minnesota Miss Amazing Jr. Miss Crown. She loved the experience and entered Miss Minnesota USA in 2017. Mikayla was the first woman with Down syndrome to participate in any state Miss USA pageant, she won two awards that evening: the Director’s Award and the Spirit of Miss USA Award.
 
Mikayla has participated again in 2018, 2021 and 2022.
She has won the well-deserved Miss Congeniality Award voted in by her peers in 2018,
The People's Choice Award and The Spirit of Miss USA in 2021,
and the non-finalist Swimsuit Award in 2022.
She will be participating for the last time July 29-30.
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Always on the go, Mikayla auditioned for Sports Illustrated,
hoping to be the first model with Down syndrome.
 
You can also see her perform with Nia Souix from Dance Moms in Nia's Online series "Dance with Nia," www.tvinsider.com/people/nia-sioux/