Mareike Adermann German wheelchair basketball player Date of Birth: 03.08.1990 Country: Germany

Biography of Mareike Adermann

Mareike Adermann, a German wheelchair basketball player, currently plays for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in the United States. She has also represented the German national team, winning two European championships. Adermann won a silver medal at the 2010 World Championship and became a champion at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. She was awarded the Silver Laurel Leaf, the highest sports award in Germany, by President Joachim Gauck as a member of the national team.

Born on August 3, 1990, Mareike Adermann is the daughter of Karl-Heinz and Kristin. She has a brother named Nils. Adermann started playing basketball at the age of seven and made her debut in the German regional women's championship at the age of fourteen. Unfortunately, in her first serious game, she suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament. This critical situation led to four surgeries over the next four years, with three on her right knee and one on her left. Despite the scars left on her legs, Adermann, who was deeply passionate about basketball, never considered giving up.

However, as she reached adulthood, Adermann had to say goodbye to basketball as she knew it. Fortunately, her physical education teacher intervened and suggested that she try wheelchair basketball, a sport she knew nothing about. Adermann agreed to give it a try. In her daily life, she doesn't rely on a wheelchair, so she was classified as an athlete with the least degree of disability. Adermann shared her experience, saying, "One of life's greatest joys is doing what others say you cannot do."

Adermann became a wheelchair basketball player in 2008, never imagining that she would one day join the national team. Through persistent training and pushing herself to the limits, she was invited to join the national team after just one year. Adermann became the captain of the under-25 team and participated in her first World Championship.

In 2009, Adermann began her studies at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, majoring in business administration with a focus on sports administration and coaching, hoping to become a coach one day. She had to adjust to a more rigorous training system compared to Germany while balancing her studies.

At the 2012 Paralympic Games in London, Adermann reached the final with the German national team, where they faced Australian wheelchair basketball players. Adermann scored 19 points in the game, more than any other player, and played a crucial role in Germany's victory with a score of 58-44. Reflecting on her performance, she said, "Many of my shots were not fancy or long-distance shots. They were just like the shots I made in other games, but in this game, I played more, and I had more straightforward opportunities to score inside the three-second zone." She continued, "I am consistently one of the bombers, but Australia underestimated me and didn't block me or some other girls. They left me open several times, and I made some great shots, so it went better for me. It just turned out that I scored the most points in the final, but I didn't aim for it intentionally."

Germany's victory became the first gold medal in wheelchair basketball competition at the Paralympic Games since 1984. Afterward, someone suggested to Adermann that with a gold medal, the highest achievement, she could retire. However, she simply and firmly responded, "No, I don't agree."