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

wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball is a style of basketball played using a sports wheelchair. The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) is the governing body for this sport. It is recognized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) as ...

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 Separate men's and women's Wheelchair Basketball World Championship tournaments were held in 2014. The women's tournament was held at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto, Canada between 20 and 28 June 2014. It was the largest women's ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Biography

Laura Fürst was born in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

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

Petoskey, Michigan Petoskey ( ) is the largest city in and the county seat of Emmet County, Michigan, and is the largest settlement within the county. Petoskey has a population of 5,877 at the 2020 census, up from 5,670 at the 2010 census. Petoskey is part of N ...

, Fürst was operating a

snowmobile A snowmobile, also known as a snowmachine (chiefly Alaskan), motor sled (chiefly Canadian), motor sledge, skimobile, snow scooter, or simply a sled is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow. Their engines normally ...

on a trail near Pleasantview Township, Michigan, 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 in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

. 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 (often shortend to Murnau) 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 t ...

, 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 St. Catharines is the most populous city in Canada's Niagara Region, the eighth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2021, St. Catharines has an area of and 136,803 residents. It lies in Southern Ontario, south of Toronto ac ...

, 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 (5 km) from Aylesbury and 3.4 miles (5.5 km) from the market town of Wendover. Although a separate civil ...

in England in July 2012. Fürst entered the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater 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,

Mariska Beijer Mariska Beijer (born 29 June 1991) is a Dutch wheelchair basketball player. Career Beijer competed at the Paralympic Games where she won gold medals at the Wheelchair basketball at the 2020 Summer Paralympics – Women's tournament, 2020 and W ...

, Desiree Miller and Rebecca Murray, Fürst helped win the collegiate championship for the Warhawks against the

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

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 application of standardized Measurement, measurements to evaluate different levels of student achievement in a course. Grades can be expressed as letters (usually A to F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), percentage ...

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

, 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 The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, f ...

, 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, Engl ...

, 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 Basketball players 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 21st-century German sportswomen