Aaron Cross (born June 28, 1975,

Waterloo, Iowa Waterloo is a city in and the county seat of Black Hawk County, Iowa, Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2020 United States census the population was 67,314, making it the List of cities in Iowa, eighth-most populous city in the st ...

) is a

quadriplegic Tetraplegia, also known as quadriplegia, is defined as the dysfunction or loss of Motor control, motor and/or Sense, sensory function in the Cervical vertebrae, cervical area of the spinal cord. A loss of motor function can present as either weak ...

American

archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In modern ...

Education and sport

He graduated from

Augsburg College Augsburg University is a private university in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It was founded in 1869 as a Norwegian-American Lutheran seminary known as Augsburg Seminariu ...

in 1997. He is currently working on his Masters in Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling at

Saint Cloud State University St. Cloud State University (SCSU) is a public university in St. Cloud, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1869, the university is one of the largest institutions in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. In the fall of 2023, it ...

. Cross was paralyzed in an accident while training for the Olympics. He competed in the

1996 Summer Paralympics The 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, were held from August 16 to 25. It was the first Paralympics to get mass media sponsorship, and had a budget of USD $81 million. It was the first Paralympic Games where Internatio ...

, taking fourth place, and in the

2000 Summer Paralympics The 2000 Summer Paralympic Games or the XI Summer Paralympics were held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, between 18 and 29 October. The Sydney Paralympics was the last time that the Summer Paralympics were organized by two different Organ ...

, taking fifth place. He went on to compete in the 2002 Wheelchair Archery World Championships in Nymburk. He won bronze in the Men's team event in Archery at the 2004 Summer Paralympics, archery at the 2004 Summer Paralympics. As a member of the U.S. World Archery Team, he won a Team Silver 2002, a Bronze in 1994, and a Gold in 1993. Cross has been featured in nationally syndicated magazines such as, Sport' N Spokes, Paraplegic News, Target and Spirit Magazine along with being featured on local, regional and national print and electronic media such as ABC and NBC. In 2005, he was the first wheelchair user to attempt and finish a Navy SEAL (SAC) training course. He completed the course a second time in 2009. * SCSU advance delegation to assess accessibility for Beijing, China * U.S. Team Captain for the 2000 and 2004 Paralympic Archery Team * Team Bronze 2004 Paralympic Medal Winner — archery * Athlete Representative to the U.S. Olympic Committee for archery, 1996-2003 * Paralympic Committee (USOC, USPC) for archery, 2000–02 * Governor to the Minnesota State Archery Association, 2000–02 * Target VP to the Minnesota State Archery Association, 2002–04 * President of the St. Cloud Archery Association, 2000-2004 * Technical Delegate to International Paralympic Committee, 1996-2000

Awards

* Safari Club International Pathfinder Award, 2013 * Judd Jacobson Award for Success in Community and Professional, 2011 * Augsburg College Decade Award for Excellence in Profession and Community, 2005 * Toastmasters International of District Six, Speaker of the Year for Communication and Leadership in Community, State and Profession 2000 * Augsburg College, Key Maker Award Recognition for Academic Achievement, Personal Growth, in College and Career 1997 * Technical High School Commencement Speaker, St. Cloud, MN, 1993

References

External links

Motivation on Wheels site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cross, Aaron 1975 births American male archers Archers at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Archers at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Archers at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Paralympic bronze medalists for the United States Augsburg University alumni Sportspeople from Waterloo, Iowa Living people Sportspeople with tetraplegia Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in archery Paralympic archers for the United States 21st-century American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen Paralympic wheelchair archers