Anne Patzwald

Anne Patzwald (born 2 July 1989, Guben, East Germany) 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 (Silver Laurel Leaf).

Anne Patzwald

Anne Patzwald at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, 2018
Personal information
Nationality	Germany
Born	(1989-07-02) 2 July 1989 Guben, East Germany
Sport
Sport	Wheelchair basketball
Disability class	1.0
Event(s)	Wheelchair Basketball
Team	BG Baskets Hamburg
Coached by	Martin Otto
Achievements and titles
Paralympic finals	2016 Paralympics
Medal record Wheelchair basketball Paralympic Games 2016 Rio de Janeiro Women's Wheelchair basketball IWBF World Championship 2018 Hamburg, Germany Women's wheelchair basketball

Biography

Anne Patzwald was born in Guben on 2 July 1989.[1] She became a paraplegic after an accident.[2] She began playing wheelchair basketball in 2012.[3] Playing sport was a part of her rehabilitation, and she considered wheelchair basketball, table tennis and badminton. When she returned home, she found that one of her neighbours played wheelchair basketball, and began playing in the local league too.[2]

Patzwald is graded a 1.0 point player.[1] She was selected as part of the under 25 national team in 2013, and the senior team the following year. In 2015, she won gold with the team in the European Championship in Worcester, England.[3] She made her Paralympic debut at the 2016 Summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, where the German team won silver.[4] President Joachim Gauck awarded the team Germany's highest sporting honour, the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt (Silver Laurel Leaf) in 2016.[5]

Patzwald trained as an occupational therapist at a school in Eckardtsheim that did not require school fees and was wheelchair accessible. Since September 2017, she has worked at BG Klinikum Hamburg. The clinic has a record of hiring athletes, who double as role models, and is generous allowing them to take time off for national team training and competitions. Its staff includes fellow national wheelchair basketball team member Maya Lindholm, paracanoeist (and former team member) Edina Müller, and former team member Simone Kues.[2]

Achievements

• 2015: Gold at European Championships (Worcester, England)[1]
• 2016: Silver at the Paralympic Games (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)[6][7]
• 2017: Silver European Championships (Tenerife, Spain)[4]
• 2018: Bronze at the World Championships (Hamburg, Germany)[4]

Notes

1. "Anne Patzwald" (in German). Sportschau – ergebnisse -– paralympics – sportler. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
2. Hardt, Andreas (25 August 2018). "Querschnittsgelähmte Patzwald: "Habe den Sport gebraucht"". Hamburger Abendblatt. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
3. "Paralympische Sommerspiele in Rio de Janeiro : Basketballerin Anne Patzwald bleibt am Ball" (in German). Westfälische Nachrichten. 4 September 2018. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
4. "Anne Patzwald" (in German). Deutsche Paralympische Mannschaft. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
5. "Verleihung des Silbernen Lorbeerblattes" (in German). Der Bundespräsident. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
6. "USA clinch women's basketball gold". International Paralympic Committee. 16 September 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
7. "Paralympic – Wheelchair Basketball Women Germany". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 23 September 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2016.