Chuck Aoki also known as Charles Aoki (born 7 March 1991) is an American

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

wheelchair rugby Wheelchair rugby (originally murderball, and known as quad rugby in the United States) is a team sport for athletes with a disability. It is practised in over twenty-five countries around the world and is a summer Paralympic sport. The US na ...

player and a former

wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball is basketball played by people with varying physical disabilities that disqualify them from playing a non-disabled sport. These include spina bifida, birth defects, cerebral palsy, paralysis due to accident, amputations (of ...

player who currently plays for the United States national wheelchair rugby team. He initially pursued his career in wheelchair basketball before permanently switching to wheelchair rugby. He has represented

United States at the Paralympics The United States of America (USA), represented by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee, has participated in every Summer and Winter Paralympic Games and is currently first on the all-time medal table. The nation used to be a dominant ...

in 2012, 2016 and 2020. He is currently regarded as one of the top 3.0 classified players in the world.

Biography

Aoki was identified to be diagnosed with hereditary sensory autonomic neuropathy soon after his birth. He was born with a rare genetic disorder which has inhibited the feeling in his hands and feet. Despite the health conditions, his behaviors were similar to the normal children and played baseball with his friends until the age of six. His mother once found that his knee began swelling and was found out that he had broken his

femur The femur (; ), or thigh bone, is the proximal bone of the hindlimb in tetrapod vertebrates. The head of the femur articulates with the acetabulum in the pelvic bone forming the hip joint, while the distal part of the femur articulates wit ...

. He continued walking normally like other children but he was advised by his doctor to use

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...

from the age of 12 as his condition became worse. He was named as Charles by his parents when he was born. However, his name was later changed to Chuck as he mistakenly pronounced his name as Chuck when he was asked by his doctor to tell his name. It happened when he was just six years old. He was forever called Chuck by his family and friends instead of referring to his given name Charles. His father's family originally hails from Japan. His great-grandparents had lived in Japan most of their lifetime before immigrating to the US in early 1900s. His grandparents and great-grandparents were all imprisoned and were placed in an internment camp in United States during the peak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. His grandfather joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

following the release of his family members who were imprisoned in the camps. He pursued his master's degree in

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...

at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

. He obtained his PhD degree in the field of

international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such a ...

from the

Josef Korbel School of International Studies The Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver is a professional school of international affairs offering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees. It is named in honor of the founding dean, Josef Korbel, father o ...

which is attached to the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univ ...

Career

He began playing wheelchair basketball at the age of six and played the sport for about eleven years. He later switched to wheelchair rugby at the age of 15 when he was pursuing his higher studies at the

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

's Southwest High School. He was inspired by the 2005 American documentary film ''Murderball'' which was based on the journey of the American wheelchair rugby players in the lead up to the

2004 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 136 , athletes = 3,806 , events = 519 in 19 sports , opening = 17 September , closing = 28 September , opened_by = President Costis Stephanopoulos , cauldron = Georgios Toptsis , stadium = Olympi ...

. Aoki decided to pursue his career in wheelchair rugby after watching the documentary. He made his wheelchair rugby international debut in 2009 and since then became a prominent member of the United States national wheelchair rugby team. He clinched the gold medal with the national team at the 2009 American Zonal Championship. He was part of the USA side which triumphed at the 2010 Wheelchair Rugby World Championship. United States Quad Rugby Association named him as the National Athlete of the Year in 2011. He made his debut appearance at the Paralympics representing United States at the 2012 Summer Paralympics and was part of USA wheelchair rugby team which claimed bronze medal in the men's wheelchair rugby competition. He was a key member of the USA side which won the 2013 Wheelchair Rugby Tri-Nations tournament. He was adjudged as the best 3.0 class player during the 2014 Wheelchair Rugby World Championship where defending champions US claimed bronze medal. Aoki was a key member of the USA side which narrowly missed out on winning the gold medal in the men's wheelchair gold medal match at the

2016 Summer Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, fro ...

. Australia won the final 59–58 in a hard-fought tight match and USA settled for a silver medal. He captained the national wheelchair team at the 2018 Wheelchair Rugby World Championship where USA claimed bronze medal. He won gold medal with the USA team in the men's wheelchair tournament at the

2019 Parapan American Games The 2019 Parapan American Games ( es, Juegos Parapanamericanos de 2019, links=no), officially the VI Pan American Games and commonly known as the Lima 2019 ParaPan-Am Games, was an international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities, ...

. He was named as one of two flag bearers along with Melissa Stockwell by the

United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee and the National Paralympic Committee for the United States. It was founded in 1895 as the United States Olympic Committee, and is headquartered in C ...

to lead the United States contingent for the opening ceremony of the delayed 2020 Summer Paralympics. Prior to competing at his third Paralympic event in 2021, he underwent six surgeries for serious leg infection in February 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aoki, Chuck 1991 births Living people Paralympic wheelchair rugby players of the United States Paralympic silver medalists for the United States Paralympic bronze medalists for the United States American wheelchair rugby players Sportspeople from Minneapolis Wheelchair rugby players at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair rugby players at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair rugby players at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in wheelchair rugby Metropolitan State University alumni University of Minnesota alumni University of Denver alumni Josef Korbel School of International Studies people American people of Japanese descent American sportspeople of Japanese descent