Angelo Mongiovi

Mongiovi was born in Newark, New Jersey, the first of six children. As a child, he eagerly played in the streets with neighborhood children, but he contracted polio just months before Jonas Salk introduced the polio vaccine. He was sent to a school for children with physical and mental handicaps until his family moved as he was entering sixth grade. In Clark, New Jersey, he was mainstreamed into the general education setting, where he thrived, quickly catching up to his peers. While in Clark, he also tried baseball and basketball for the first time.^[1] Mongiovi graduated from David Brearley High School in 1970.^[2]

In 173, during his senior year at New Jersey Institute of Technology, Mongiovi was working late on a school project and eating in the campus cafeteria when he was approached by Jimmy Marzanno, a double amputee, visiting NCE. Marzanno asked him whether he had ever heard of wheelchair sports; he had not. Marzanno invited Mongiovi to check out a wheelchair basketball practice at Montclair State University. On October 5, 1973, Mongiovi, accompanied by his also-disabled friend Thomas McDonald, was first exposed to the world of wheelchair sports.

After borrowing a wheelchair from another friend, the two traveled to Montclair and had their first experience of wheelchair sports. Both would later go on to achieve high honors in their sports of choice: Mongiovi in rugby, basketball and track,^[3] and McDonald in weight lifting. At their first practice, Mongiovi was approached by Michael Lione, a player for the New Jersey Blue Devils Wheelchair Basketball Team (and former classmate at the Branch Brook School) and was invited to try out for the team.

Although he had very little experience at maneuvering a wheelchair, Mongiovi had a natural talent for wheelchair sports. After seeing his speed on the basketball court, a woman recruiting for the wheelchair track team invited him to try out.

In 1989 Mongiovi was chosen to represent the United States in the Stoke Mandeville Wheelchair Games, an international wheelchair sports competition. The United States basketball team came in second place that year, losing to the Canadian team.

During his career competing nationally and internationally in wheelchair track and field competitions, Mongiovi participated in many events, including the 100 yard dash, 220 and 440 yard, 200 meter, and slalom races. In 1985, he participated in a national competition racing in the 200 meter dash and setting the national record for fastest time in that race. Upon setting his record, Mongiovi was invited to represent the United States once again in the Stoke Mandeville Games, this time for track, where he competed on a track that was once shared with "the fastest man alive," Carl Lewis. He won silver and bronze medals in all of his races at this competition. In 1990, Mongiovi was presented with a national track and field award. He was named the most outstanding slalom competitor overall, beating out one of the best slalom players in the country and one of his role models, Randy Snow.