A three-time Olympian, Erik Shoji was part of the U.S. volleyball team that won bronze at Rio 2016 and Paris 2024. He’s now told the world he’s also Team LGBTQ.
The captain of the U.S. men’s national volleyball team has come out publicly as queer.
Erik Shoji shared his personal news via a reel on TikTok and Instagram, quickly receiving a flood of well-wishes. He has a combined following of over 1.6 million on the two platforms.
Considered by many fans of the sport to be the world’s best libero, the 35-year-old has been part of the senior national squad since 2013 and helped the U.S. team win bronze medals at the 2016 and 2024 Olympics, as well as the 2018 World Championship.
In the video, Shoji says: “I’m here to tell the world today that I am queer.
“It feels scary, but freeing at the same time. I think personal acceptance takes a while. For me, it took a long time and I’m working through that still every day, but I think I’m stronger, more confident and more sure of myself than I’ve ever been.
“And I feel that given who I am and the platform that I have, that this is my moment and I’m so excited to move forward after this.”
Shoji was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. His older brother Kawika was also part of the Rio 2016 team that won bronze, and their father is University of Hawaii women’s coach Dave Shoji.
A three-time Olympian, Erik Shoji attended Stanford University, where he became the first four-time AVCA team All-American and ended his college career with a record total of 1,402 digs.
He has since played professionally in Germany, Austria, Italy, Russia and Poland, where he spent the last four years with club side ZAKSA, winning multiple domestic trophies and Champions League titles in 2022 and 2023. He announced in May that he was leaving ZAKSA.
