AJ Daxton Fitzpatrick (born August 28, 2004) is an American

wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball is a style of basketball played using a sports wheelchair. The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) is the governing body for this sport. It is recognized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) as ...

player and a member of the United States men's national wheelchair basketball team. He represented the United States at the

2024 Summer Paralympics The 2024 Summer Paralympics (), also known as the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games (), and branded as Paris 2024, were the 17th Summer Paralympic Games, an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event governed by the International P ...

Early life and education

Fitzpatrick attended Prairie High School in

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 137,710 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, second-most populous city in Iowa. The city lies o ...

. On May 17, 2022, he signed to play wheelchair basketball at

University of Wisconsin–Whitewater The University of Wisconsin–Whitewater (UW–Whitewater or UWW) is a public university in Whitewater, Wisconsin, United States. It is part of the University of Wisconsin System. As of Fall 2024, the university offers 47 undergraduate majors ...

. During his freshman season, he was named to the 2022–23 All-Rookie Team. He helped lead the Warhawk's to the 2024 National Wheelchair Basketball Association men's intercollegiate division national championship. He won a gold medal in

Career

In November 2023, Fitzpatrick represented the United States at the 2023 Parapan American Games and won a gold medal in

. As a result, Team USA automatically qualified to compete at the

. On March 30, 2024, he was selected to represent the United States at the 2024 Summer Paralympics.

Personal life

Fitzpatrick was diagnosed with

arthrogryposis Arthrogryposis (AMC) describes congenital joint contracture in two or more areas of the body. It derives its name from Greek, literally meaning 'curving of joints' (', 'joint'; ', late Latin form of late Greek ', 'hooking'). Children born with one ...

at birth.

References

External links

* 2004 births Living people American men's wheelchair basketball players People from Cedar Rapids, Iowa Wheelchair basketball players at the 2023 Parapan American Games Medalists at the 2023 Parapan American Games Paralympic wheelchair basketball players for the United States Wheelchair basketball players at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in wheelchair basketball Paralympic gold medalists for the United States 21st-century American sportsmen Parapan American Games medalists in wheelchair basketball Parapan American Games gold medalists for the United States {{2000s-US-basketball-bio-stub