Laura Fürst (born 24 April 1991) is a German 2.0 point national

wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball is basketball played by people with varying physical disabilities that disqualify them from playing a non-disabled sport. These include spina bifida, birth defects, cerebral palsy, paralysis due to accident, amputations (of ...

player who plays in the wheelchair basketball league for RBB Munich, and for the German national team, with which she won silver at the 2014 Women's World Wheelchair Basketball Championship in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Biography

Laura Fürst was born in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

on 24 April 1991. On 8 March 2008, while she was a 16-year-old exchange student at

Petoskey High School Petoskey High School is a public, magnet high school located in Petoskey, Michigan Petoskey ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat and largest city in Emmet County. Part of Northern Michigan, Petoskey is a po ...

Petoskey, Michigan Petoskey ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat and largest city in Emmet County. Part of Northern Michigan, Petoskey is a popular Midwestern resort town, as it sits on the shore of Little Traverse Bay, a bay of La ...

, Fürst was operating a

snowmobile A snowmobile, also known as a Ski-Doo, snowmachine, sled, motor sled, motor sledge, skimobile, or snow scooter, is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow. It is designed to be operated on snow and ice and does not ...

on a trail near

Pleasantview Township, Michigan Pleasantview Township is a civil township of Emmet County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 823 at the 2010 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of , of which is land a ...

, when she lost control and crashed into a tree. Suffering serious injuries, she was taken to Northern Michigan Hospital in Petoskey, and then to the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital at the

University of Michigan Medical Center Michigan Medicine (University of Michigan Health System or UMHS before 2017) is the wholly owned academic medical center of the University of Michigan, a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan Medicine includes the Univers ...

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...

. Among her injuries was a shattered vertebra that caused paralysis in her legs, which rendered her an incomplete paraplegic. Returning to Germany, Fürst went to the in

Murnau am Staffelsee Murnau am Staffelsee is a market town in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in the Oberbayern region of Bavaria, Germany. The market originated in the 12th century around Murnau Castle. Murnau is on the edge of the Bavarian Alps, about sou ...

, where she was introduced to

during rehabilitation. Picking up the game quickly, she began playing for and RBB Munich, junior players being able to play for two teams. In 2011, she was a 2.0 point player with the German team at the U25 Women's World Cup in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. This was followed by defeating Sweden in the final to win the U22 European Championship at

Stoke Mandeville Stoke Mandeville is a village and civil parish in the Vale of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located three miles (4.9 km) from Aylesbury and 3.4 miles (5.5 km) from the market town of Wendover. Although a separate civil p ...

in England in July 2012. Fürst entered the

University of Wisconsin-Whitewater A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

as a freshman, spending a year studying physical engineering, and playing wheelchair basketball for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks. With her teammates, who included Paralympians

Mareike Adermann Mareike Miller (; born 3 August 1990) 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, ...

Mariska Beijer Mariska Beijer (born 29 June 1991) is a Dutch wheelchair basketball player. Career Beijer competed at the Paralympic Games where she won a gold medal at the 2020 games and bronze medals at the 2012 and 2016 games. She has been part of the N ...

, Desiree Miller and

Rebecca Murray Rebecca Murray (born March 15, 1990) is an American former wheelchair basketball player. She is a three-time Parapan American Games gold medalist in both 2007, 2011 and 2023. In 2010, she won two more gold medals at IWBF World Championship and a ...

, Fürst helped win the collegiate championship for the Warhawks against the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

Crimson Tide on 9 March 2013. She also made the

Dean's List A dean's list is an academic award, or distinction, used to recognize the highest level scholarship demonstrated by students in a college or university. This system is most often used in North America, though institutions in Europe, Asia, and Aust ...

for the 2012 fall semester for having a

grade point average Grading in education is the process of applying standardized measurements for varying levels of achievements in a course. Grades can be assigned as letters (usually A through F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), as a percentage, or as a numbe ...

of 3.4 or more in a single semester. In June 2014, Fürst joined the senior women's team for the 2014 Women's World Wheelchair Basketball Championship in

, Canada. The German team won silver after being defeated by Canada in the final. The German team beat the Netherlands in the 2015 European Championships, to claim its tenth European title. At the 2016 Paralympic Games, it won silver after losing the final to the United States.

Achievements

* 2012: Gold at the U22 European Championship (

, England) * 2014: Silver at the World Championships (

, Canada) * 2015: Gold at the European Championships (

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

, England) * 2016: Silver at the Paralympic Games (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

Notes

External links

* (in German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Furst, Laura German women's wheelchair basketball players University of Wisconsin–Whitewater alumni 1991 births Living people Sportspeople from Munich Wheelchair basketball players at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Paralympic silver medalists for Germany People with paraplegia Paralympic medalists in wheelchair basketball Paralympic wheelchair basketball players for Germany