Christopher McHugh

Fast Facts

Sport: Beach Volleyball
Event: Men's Beach Volleyball
Olympic History: Tokyo 2020
Highlights: 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games Gold Medal
Coach: Andrew Schacht
Year Born: 1989
State Born: NSW

About Christopher

Australian beach volleyball star Christopher McHugh made an entry into the sport in Year 3, opting to participate in Spikezone Mini Volleyball to get out of clarinet lessons on Wednesday afternoons. He soon joined the Henley Hawks Volleyball Club in South Australia to pursue Beach Volleyball further. He made his professional volleyball debut in 2006, at just 17-years-old. 

Chris has appeared at three World Championships, attending in 2013, 2015 and 2017. He won his first tournament at the 2012 AVC Beach Volleyball Championships alongside now retired Joshua Slack, with whom he was teammates for two years. He joined forces with Isaac Kapa for four years before finding a partner in Damien Schumann. 

The Schumann/McHugh partnership was strong, having made the podium four times before their Commonwealth Games debut in 2018. At the Gold Coast Games, the pair found their flow, making it through to the final undefeated. Their strong teamwork and defensive tactics saw them battle out the final, where they defeated Canadian pair Pedlow and Schachter, taking the gold medal in front of a home crowd.

He studied at St Michael's College in 2007 while training at the Australian Institute of Volleyball, where he is also now an AIS Share a Yarn Ambassador, a program fostering connections and education with the ATSI community. 

Outside of beach volleyball, Chris is involved in grassroots sport, spending time as VP of his first club, the Henley Hawks Volleyball Club where he helps mentor young athletes, as well as speaking at local schools to encourage early involvement in volleyball. 

McHugh and Schumann achieved a milestone before stepping on the sand at Tokyo 2020, becoming Australia’s first male beach volleyballers to compete at an Olympics since Beijing 2008 after qualifying through the continental cup.

They faced a tough draw which included the Danish World Champions Anders Mol and Christian Sørum and top-5 seeded Russian Olympic Committee.

With a thrilling first matchup, the Australians pushed the Danes to the brink, going down in a knife’s edge battle 21-18 18-21 15-13. The Danish pair of Mol and Sorum finished Tokyo as gold medallists, with this first matchup showing the world the Aussie duo can compete with the best of the best.

While unable to capture the magic play of their first round encounter, the Aussie men fought bravely in pool match defeats to Russia (21-14 21-16) and Spain (21-16 21-16).

After an incredibly tough qualifying and preparation schedule, which included McHugh and Schumann spending two weeks in quarantine directly before leaving for Tokyo after their qualification event in Thailand, they represented Australia with pride and showed Australia belongs in the Olympic competition.

McHugh looked to the impact Tokyo will have on the next generation of beach volleyballers.

“We’re very proud of our team,” McHugh said. “It's been a really long journey to get to this point. We couldn’t have done it without our families and our friends back home and we hope we made everyone proud.

“It's also been a really special time in the village with the Australian team. We have a really close knit group and we’ve been celebrating everybody's successes. I'm sure that everybody will look back at these Games as something special and something really unique.

“Volleyball is the second biggest participation sport in the world, and Australia has the world’s best beaches too. If we can get more kids playing and really investing in the grassroots it will give so many great opportunities.

“With Brisbane 2032 coming it’s fantastic and I think we’ll see that investment come - but it’s not just about better sporting outcomes, but the incredible role models Olympic sport can bring. Look at Jess Fox, look at so many people on this Australian Olympic team that are such high quality human beings. Australia loves the Olympics and I’d love to see Australia keep showcasing incredible people like that.”

He has also been an ambassador for the South Australia Be Active Challenge, a program encouraging kids to live an active life and get involved in sport. During 2019 Chris became a father, with his wife, Denai, giving birth to Jack on September 24, 2019. 

Since he began competing on the FIVB World Tour in 2006, McHugh has played over 600 matches. He is a six-time Australian Champion and in 2017, was a part of the Number One ranked team in Asia/Oceania.