From our Olympics correspondent in Paris – Japan won its first-ever gold medal in wheelchair rugby at Paris’s Champs-de-Mars Arena Monday night, surging ahead of the US team at half-time. It was an infuriating night for the US, who has failed to win gold in the fast-paced sport – once known as “murderball” for its full-contact play-style – since 2008.
Murderball is relentless. Once a player has the ball, the shot-clock starts counting down; they have just 40 seconds to fight their way through the opposing side and drive it through the goalposts at the end of the court. This is easier said than done – wheelchair rugby, as it is now known, is a notoriously high-contact sport, and the blunt impact of wheelchair ramming wheelchair echoes non-stop through the arena.
The crowd loves it. After four days of fast-paced matches, the US is facing off against Japan for the gold medal, and the stands are packed with fans decked out in their countries’ stars, stripes and rising sun.
Both teams have a lot riding on this match. The US, which historically dominated the sport since its rough beginnings in the 1970s, hasn’t won gold since 2008, with a bronze and three silvers since then only sharpening their frustration. For Japan, this is the first time they’ve made it to the finals, and their team has only been getting stronger since they won bronze two Games running.
Paris is co-captain Chuck Aoki’s fourth Paralympics. Speaking to reporters after the game, he said he had been moved by the raucous crowds that packed the stadiums across Paris throughout the Games.
“Paris has really showed out for wheelchair rugby, it’s really impressive and heart-warming to see and really a reminder of the power and energy the Games have and the spirit it has,” he said. “It’s great to see the support for para sports.”
Although it continues to be dominated by male players, wheelchair rugby is a mixed sport – women are playing on both sides of the court tonight. Sarah Adam streaks across the arena like a comet, scoring try after try as she outpaces the Japanese defenders.
It’s the first time that Adam, or any woman for that matter, has played for the US team in the Paralympics. She’s rarely off the court – by the time the teams break for half-time, she’s scored half the US side’s total tries. The crowd roars every time she surges through the goalposts, the white ball clenched tight between her knees.
“I think for me my favourite part – besides taking to the court with my teammates – is having my family in the stands and friends out there,” she told reporters after the game. “It’s been an electric atmosphere and a lot of fun to play in front of a crowd like this, so I’m really taking that home with me.”
There’s still some way to go before the sport reaches gender parity. The Japanese side also has just one woman, Kae Kurahashi, while Australia, who won bronze, has a record-breaking three female players on their team. Out of the eight teams playing at the Games, only France, Great Britain and Canada continue to field all-male teams.
“I think it’s a really cool opportunity to have that platform and hopefully be able to reach other females that need to be in adaptive sports, and can benefit from being part of a community like I have had the opportunity to be,” Adam said.
“But at the end of the day I’m just going out there and being an athlete and being amongst my teammates who support me, and my family that supports me, and that keeps me kind of centered and grounded on how to do that in a way that’s really meaningful and impactful.”
In Paris’s pop-up Champs-de-Mars Arena, the final is off to a tense start. The US side takes the lead early and clings to it through the first two quarters, always in motion, deftly out-maneuvering their opponents.
As the Japanese pull ahead at half-time, the game starts to take on a rougher, more desperate feel. Players career into one another, sometimes sending their opponents tumbling to the ground. Their wheelchairs lock in clattering tangles as they wrestle for the ball, the matt-black wheels scissoring fingers unlucky enough to be caught between them at the moment of impact.
The US team fights hard, but the Japanese don’t cede an inch. By the end of the match, Japan is up seven points. They cling to one another, elated, their supporters incandescent in the stands.
It’s Aoki’s third time coming away with silver, and it clearly stings. Already, though, he’s preparing himself for the next fight – and this time, it will be with a home crowd behind him.
“It gives me chills just thinking about it,” he said. “I know that the US is going to show up and have an amazing Games. A lot of work to do on our end, we gotta really grind, but I’m excited about the possibility.”
Aoki said he hadn’t given up on coming away with gold in 2028.
“I’ll take a little bit of time to relax, but we’re going for gold in LA,” he said.
