Biography
Britt Tuna was born on 4 April 1963. [1] She played wheelchair basketball for RSV Lahn-Dill, and the German national team which won the European Wheelchair Basketball Championship in 1987. [2] At the 1988 Summer Paralympics in Seoul, Tuna was considered to be the strongest wheelchair basketball player in her 1.0-point class. The German team went through the tournament undefeated until the final match, which they lost to the United States, 38–31. [3] Tuna was bitter about the defeat, which she blamed on a tactical error by the German coach. [4] She later conceded, "So habe ihr diese Niederlage noch über Jahre nachgehangen" ("I indulged in this defeat for many years"). [4]
In the early 1990s, Tuna quit basketball to focus on her work. She married, [4] changing her surname to Dillmann, [5] and raised three children (Jana Dillmann, Charlotte Dillmann, Valentin Joshua Dillmann). [6] But in the summer of 2009, Dillmann felt that she had become overweight and unfit. A low-carbohydrate diet and daily exercise at the gym, in the pool, and on the handcycle, saw her weight drop by 30 kilograms (66 lb) in a year. [4] [7]
Dillmann then decided to try wheelchair basketball again. She retrieved her old basketball chair, now somewhat mouldy and smelly, from the basement, and sought a game with her old team, RSV Lahn-Dill. Her debut game with the seconds saw the basketball officials reaching for their rulebooks to see if the old chair, of a type they had never seen, was still legal. [7]
Although RSV Lahn-Dill, eager to develop young players, would only let her play in the seconds, Dillmann caught the attention of national coach Holger Glinicki, who was looking for a top-notch 1.0-point player. In 2010, she rejoined the national team that she had played on before many of her new teammates were born. The team went on to win the European Championships in 2011. [4] [7] Dillmann's treatment contrasted with that of national teammate Gesche Schünemann. While Schünemann received endorsements and could train in the hall of RSV Lahn-Dill's Rivers Barracks, Dillmann got none, and trained outdoors. [6]
In June 2012 she was named as one of the team that competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympic Games in London. [8] At the age of 49, she was the oldest wheelchair basketball player there. [4] [9] In the Gold Medal match, the team faced the Australia women's national wheelchair basketball team, [10] a team that had beaten them 48–46 in Sydney just a few months before. [11] They defeated the Australians 44–58 in front of a crowd of over 12,000 at the North Greenwich Arena to win the gold medal, [10] the first that Germany had won in women's wheelchair basketball in 28 years. [12] They were awarded a Silver Laurel Leaf by president Joachim Gauck in November 2012, [13] and were again named Team of the Year for 2012. [12] For Dillmann, the gold medal victory removed the pain of the loss 24 years before. [4] "Das hat mich versöhnt mit Seoul" ("This has reconciled me with Seoul") she said. [4]
Steven Dillon Serio is a wheelchair basketball player. As a co-captain of the USA Men's National Wheelchair Basketball Team, he led the American men to their first Paralympic gold medal since 1988 at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympic Games and defended the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. He currently plays for the New York Rolling Knicks in the NWBA Championship Division.
Gesche Schünemann is a German former wheelchair basketball player and Paralympian who was part of the team that took the silver medal in the women's wheelchair basketball at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, and the gold medal-winning team in wheelchair basketball at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London.
Sarah Stewart is a 3.0 point wheelchair basketball player from Australia. She participated in the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, where she won a silver medal; in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, where she won a bronze medal; and the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, where she won a second silver medal.
Michael Auprince, is an Australian swimmer and wheelchair basketball player. He set several swimming records and was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London in swimming, where he won gold and bronze medals. He represented the Rollers team at the 2020 Summer Paralympics. Michael is currently on the coaching staff of the University of Alabama Wheelchair Basketball team.
Maria Kühn is a 1.0-point wheelchair basketball player who plays for SV Reha Augsburg in the German wheelchair basketball league. She has also played in the German national team, with which she won two European titles, was runner-up at 2010 World Championships, and won a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. Having won the gold medal, President Joachim Gauck awarded the team the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt, Germany's highest sporting honour.
Edina Müller is a German 2.5 point wheelchair basketball player and KL1 canoeist. She played for ASV Bonn in the German wheelchair basketball league, and for the national team. As part of the German women's national wheelchair basketball team, she won bronze at the 2006 World Cup in Amsterdam, won three time European champions, a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, and a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. The team was voted 2008 Team of the Year in disabled sports, and Horst Köhler presented it with Germany's highest sports award, the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt. President Joachim Gauck awarded the team a second Silver Leaf after it won the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics. Müller was also a two-time U.S. champion (2006-2008) with her college team Illinois Fighting Illini at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and helped ASV Bonn win the European Cup in Valladolid, Spain in 2009. From 2011 to 2014 she played for Hamburger SV.
Johanna Welin is a Swedish-born German 2.0 point wheelchair basketball player. She played for USC Munich in the German wheelchair basketball league, and for the national team that won the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, after which President Joachim Gauck awarded the team with the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt.
Annabel Breuer is a wheelchair fencer and 1.5 point wheelchair basketball player. She has played for SKV Ravensburg and Sabres Ulm in the German wheelchair basketball league. In December 2012 she was contracted to play for first division club RSV Lahn-Dill as well as Sabres Ulm. She has also played the national team, with which she won two European titles, was runner-up at 2010 World Championships, and won a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. After the London Games, President Joachim Gauck awarded the team Germany's highest sporting honour, the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt.
Mareike Miller is a 4.5 point wheelchair basketball player, who played for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in the United States. She also plays for the German national team, with which she won two European titles, was runner-up at 2010 and 2014 World Championships, won a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London and won a silver medal at the Rio 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro. President Joachim Gauck awarded the team Germany's highest sporting honour, the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt, twice. Miller is part of the LGBTQ+ community.
Annika Zeyen-Giles is a former 1.5-point wheelchair basketball player, who has played for ASV Bonn, RSV Lahn-Dill and BG Baskets Hamburg in the German wheelchair basketball league, and for the University of Alabama in the United States. She has represented her country a total of 382 times in which she won six European titles, was the runner-up at 2010 and 2014 World Championships, won silver medals at the 2008 Summer Paralympic Games in Beijing and 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, and won a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, for which President Joachim Gauck awarded the team Germany's highest sporting honour, the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt . Following the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, Zeyen retired from wheelchair basketball to pursue alternative sporting challenges as an individual athlete.
Maya Lindholm is a 2.5 point wheelchair basketball player, who played with the German national team that won a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. It also won a European title in 2011 and was runner-up in 2013. President Joachim Gauck awarded the team Germany's highest sporting honour, the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt.
Holger Glinicki is a German wheelchair basketball coach, who coached Hamburger SV. He was assistant coach of the German women's national team from 2003 to 2005. He has been coach of the team since 2006, during which time it has won five European championships, a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing and a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London.
Marina Mohnen is a 4.5-point wheelchair basketball player, who plays for Rhine River Rhinos Wiesbaden in Germany, and previously played for the Mainhatten Skywheelers, RBC Köln 99ers, BAD.S. Quartu Sant' Elena und S. Stefano Sport. She also played with the German national team that won the European title in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2015 and was runner-up in 2013. It was also runner-up at the IWBF World Championship in Birmingham in 2010 and in Toronto 2014. She won a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing and the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio, and a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. The team was voted 2008 Team of the Year in disabled sports, and President Horst Köhler presented it with Germany's highest sports award, the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt. President Joachim Gauck awarded the team a second Silver Leaf after it won the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics and at the Summer Paralympics in 2016.
Heike Friedrich is a German 4.5 point wheelchair basketball player, who plays for the Mainhatten Skywheelers. She was a professional basketball player who played for TuS Lichterfeld, Wild Cats Aschaffenburg, TV Langen und TV Hofheim. She was with the Bundesliga club TV Langen for five years, and the Germany women's national basketball team for nine years, playing 204 international games. Since taking up wheelchair basketball in 2006, she has played with the German national team which won European titles in 2009 and 2011, and was runner-up in 2013. The team was also runner-up at the IWBF World Championship in Birmingham in 2010, and won a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. President Joachim Gauck awarded the team Germany's highest sporting honour, the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt.
Annegret Brießmann is a 1.0 point wheelchair basketball player, who plays for the Frankfurt Mainhatten Skywheelers. She has also played with the German national team which won a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. President Joachim Gauck awarded the team Germany's highest sporting honour, the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt.
Simone Kues is a German 1.0 point national wheelchair basketball player who plays in the wheelchair basketball league for Hamburg SV. She joined the national team, and participated in the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, at which the German team came fourth. She won bronze at the World Wheelchair Basketball Championships in Amsterdam in 2006. Her team were won the European championship in 2005, 2007 and 2009. She won a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing. The women's national team were voted Team of the Year in disabled sports in 2008, and President Horst Köhler awarded them the Silver Laurel Leaf, Germany's highest German sports award.
Anne Patzwald is a German 1.0 point wheelchair basketball player, who played for the German national team at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, winning silver. President Joachim Gauck awarded the team Germany's highest sporting honour, the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt.
Barbara Gross is a 4.5 point wheelchair basketball player, who played for the German national team at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, winning silver. President Joachim Gauck awarded the team Germany's highest sporting honour, the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt.
Hiroaki Kozai is a Japanese wheelchair basketball player who plays for the Japan men's national wheelchair basketball team.
Catharina Weiss is a German 1.0 point wheelchair basketball player, who played for the German national team at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo and the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris.
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