Britt Dillmann

Britt Dillmann (born 4 April 1963) is a 1.0-point wheelchair basketball forward, who plays for RSV Lahn-Dill in the German wheelchair basketball league. She has also played for the national team, winning a silver medal at the 1988 Summer Paralympics in Seoul. She retired soon afterwards, but staged a comeback in 2011, rejoining the national team, which went on to win the European championships, and then a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. President Joachim Gauck awarded the team Germany's highest sporting honour, the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt (Silver Laurel Leaf).

Britt Dillmann

Dillmann in Sydney, July 2012
Personal information
Nickname(s)	MA
Nationality	Germany
Born	(1963-04-04) 4 April 1963
Sport
Country	Germany
Sport	Wheelchair basketball
Disability class	1.0
Event(s)	Women's team
Team	RSV Lahn-Dill
Coached by	Holger Glinicki
Achievements and titles
Paralympic finals	1988 Summer Paralympics 2012 Summer Paralympics
Medal record Women's wheelchair basketball Representing  Germany Paralympic Games 2012 London Team competition 1988 Seoul Team competition

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]

Achievements

• 1987: Gold at the European Championships (Lorient, France)[2]
• 1988: Silver at Paralympic Games (Seoul, South Korea)[3]
• 2011: Gold at the European Championships (Nazareth, Israel)[8]
• 2012: Gold at the Paralympic Games (London, England)[1]

Awards

• 2012: Team of the Year[12]
• 2012: Silver Laurel Leaf[13]

Sydney July 2012

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Notes

1. "Britt Dillmann – Wheelchair Basketball". Official site of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 26 May 2013. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
2. "The History of RSV Lahn-Dill". RSV Lahn-Dill. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
3. Strohkendl, Horst. The 50th Anniversary of Wheelchair Basketball: A History. p. 33. ISBN 9783830954415. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
4. Fledersbacher, Sabine (11 September 2012). "Die Älteste zählt zu den Besten". Hessischer Rundfunk (in German). Archived from the original on 12 April 2013. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
5. "Zeltinger Premiere – Dillmann Comeback". RSV Lahn-Dill. 19 June 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
6. Mehl, Albert (3 November 2012). "Goldmedaillen-Gewinnerin Britt Dillmann: "Subtil benachteiligt" – RSV Lahn-Dill: "Keine Probleme"". Gießener Anzeiger (in German). Retrieved 15 March 2013.
7. Kampmann, Jan (11 September 2012). ""Alterspräsidentin" Dillmann bleibt nach Gold am Ball". Gießener Allgemeine (in German). Archived from the original on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
8. "Nu Nguyen-Thi darf nicht mit: Holger Glinicki benennt Kader für die Paralympics". Rolling Planet (in German). 12 June 2012. Archived from the original on 13 April 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
9. Flüs, Julia (17 September 2012). "60 Olympioniken treffen sich im Europa-Park". badische-zeitung. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
10. "Germany claim women's crown". Official site of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. 7 September 2012. Archived from the original on 30 April 2013. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
11. Mannion, Tim (21 July 2012). "Victory for Rollers and Gliders as London Awaits". Australian Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 21 July 2015. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
12. "Rollstuhlbasketballerinnen sind Mannschaft des Jahres" (in German). HSV-Rollstuhlsport. 26 November 2012. Archived from the original on 27 June 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
13. "Verleihung des Silbernen Lorbeerblattes" (in German). Bundespräsidialamt. 7 November 2012. Archived from the original on 19 November 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2013.

External links

• Britt Dillmann at the International Paralympic Committee