Mareike Miller
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Mareike Miller (; born 3 August 1990) is a 4.5 point
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 played for the
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...
in the United States. She also plays for the German national team, with which she won two European titles, was runner-up at 2010 and 2014 World Championships, won a gold medal at the
2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Sum ...
in London and won a silver medal at the Rio 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro. President
Joachim Gauck Joachim Wilhelm Gauck (; born 24 January 1940) is a German politician who served as President of Germany from 2012 to 2017. A former Lutheran pastor, he came to prominence as an anti-communist civil rights activist in East Germany. During the P ...
awarded the team Germany's highest sporting honour, the ''
Silbernes Lorbeerblatt Silbernes Lorbeerblatt (, ), the highest sports award in Germany, was endowed on 23 June 1950 by the German President Theodor Heuss. It is awarded to athletes and teams of exemplary character that have won medals at Olympic and Paralympic Games ...
'' (Silver Laurel Leaf), twice (2012 and 2016). Miller is part of the LGBTQ+ community.


Biography

Mareike Miller was born on 3 August 1990, the daughter of Karl-Heinz and Kristin. She has a brother, Nils. She is nicknamed "MA". Miller began playing
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
at the age of seven, and made her debut with a women's senior club team in Germany when she was 14. In that first game, she suffered a
torn anterior cruciate ligament An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during in ...
. Over the next four years, she underwent knee surgery four times, three in the right knee, and once in the left, leaving her knees scarred. On each occasion she took eight months to recover, and ruptured an anterior cruciate ligament within weeks of returning to playing. At the age of 18, Miller was forced to give up her dream of playing basketball. However, her physical education teacher suggested that she try
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 ...
, a sport she had never heard of. Although she is a wheelchair basketball player, Miller does not require a wheelchair for everyday activities, and is classified as a
4.5 point player 4.5-point player is a disability sport classification for wheelchair basketball. Players in this class tend to have normal trunk movement, few problems with side-to-side movements, and ability to reach to the side of their chair. Players generall ...
with a minimal disability. Being able to move her body fully gives the tall
center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...
a height advantage, but she found that shooting from the
free throw line In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws ...
in a chair requires as much force as shooting standing from the three-point line. When Miller took up wheelchair basketball in 2008, she was not thinking of making the national team, but with hard work and daily practice, she made it in just one year. That year she started playing for ASV Bonn in the German regional league. In 2009, she began attending
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...
in the United States, where she studied business administration. She found the workload much higher than in Germany. Whereas most German clubs trained only two of three times a week, training in the United States was every day, with weight and training rooms available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. While in Germany for summer breaks, she trained with the second division team
Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...
Hot Rolling Bears and travelled twice a week to
Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
to train with the Köln 99ers. In 2011, she captained the German Under 25 (U25) National team, competing at their first ever World Championships. In March 2012, her UWW Warhawks team, coached by Daniel T. Price, defeated 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 ...
63–34 to win the US Intercollegiate National Championships in a game in which Miller scored 17 points and had 13
rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...
. Later that year, Miller headed to Australia, Netherlands and
Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...
for training camps with the German women's wheelchair basketball national team before the
2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Sum ...
in London. In the Gold Medal match in London, the team faced the
Australia women's national wheelchair basketball team The Australia women's national wheelchair basketball team is the women's wheelchair basketball side that represents Australia in international competitions. The team is known as the Gliders. The team hasn't won a gold medal for Australia since i ...
, who had defeated them 48–46 in Sydney just a few months before, in front of a crowd of over 12,000 at the
North Greenwich Arena The O2 Arena, commonly known as The O2, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the centre of The O2 entertainment district on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London, England. It opened in its present form in 2007. It has the third-highest seat ...
. The German team had been undefeated up to that point, but had started off slow in its games against the United States and China, winning these games by six-point margins, and seemed to play its best basketball only in the final minutes of a game. Miller scored 19 points, more than any other player in the match, and was a key factor in Germany winning 58–44. "Most of my shots weren’t even any crazy shots or any outside shots", Miller said. "They were the same shots I took in the others games, but I played more in this game, and I had many more easy opportunities getting into the paint." "I’m always one of the shooters, but I think Australia underestimated me and didn’t defend me as well as some of the other girls. They left me open a lot and I got some big shots, so it went well for me. It just worked out that I scored the most points in the final, but it wasn’t deliberate." It was the first gold medal that Germany had won in women's wheelchair basketball at the Paralympics since 1984. They were awarded the Silver Laurel Leaf by President
Joachim Gauck Joachim Wilhelm Gauck (; born 24 January 1940) is a German politician who served as President of Germany from 2012 to 2017. A former Lutheran pastor, he came to prominence as an anti-communist civil rights activist in East Germany. During the P ...
in November 2012, and were named German Team of the Year for 2012. "Many times, I was told that after winning a gold medal, I have achieved the most I can, so I could quit now," Miller later wrote, "But I disagree." After a devastating loss in the European Championship final on home soil in 2013, the German team claimed 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 ...
in
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 ...
, Canada, 2015, Miller had to have more surgeries on her knees and thus could not play with the German team. 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 ...
, she returned and won silver after losing the final to the United States. After the 2016 Paralympic Games, several athletes and the German national team head coach retired. Miller remained as one of the experienced players of the team, now playing for Martin Otto, the PE teacher who got her to play the sport in the first place. As part of the captain trio, she led her team to another European Championship silver medal in 2017, showing that the team even with many changes is continuing on a high level. 2018 marks the year of World Championships in Hamburg, Germany. Miller will captain the team competing in front of her home crowds as she also currently lives in Hamburg and plays for the professional team BG Baskets Hamburg. Miller competed in women's wheelchair basketball at the
2024 Summer Paralympics The 2024 Summer Paralympics (), also known as the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games (), and branded as Paris 2024, were the 17th Summer Paralympic Games, an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event governed by the International P ...
in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
,
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. Germany placed 6th overall.


Achievements

*2009: Gold at the European Championships *2009: Silver at German Women's National Championships *2010: Silver at the Women's World Championships *2010: Bronze at the U22 mixed European Championships *2010: Gold at German Women's National Championships *2011: Silver at German Women's National Championships *2011: Gold at the European Championships (Nazareth, Israel) *2012: Intercollegiate Champion *2012: Silver at German Women's National Championships *2012: Gold at the Paralympic Games (London, England) *2013: Intercollegiate Champion *2013: Silver European Championships (Frankfurt, Germany) *2014: Intercollegiate Champion *2014: Silver at the World Championships (Toronto, Canada) * 2016: Silver at the Paralympic Games (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) * 2017: Silver European Championships * 2018: Bronze at the World Championships (Hamburg, Germany) * 2019: Silver European Championships * 2021: 4th Place and German Flagbearer at the Paralympic Games (Tokyo, Japan) * 2023: 4th Place World Championships * 2023: 4th Place European Championships * 2024: 6th Place at the Paralympic Games (Paris, France)


Awards

*2011, 2012, 2014, 2016: Team of the Year *2012 and 2014: Silver Laurel Leaf


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Mareike 1990 births Living people German women's wheelchair basketball players Paralympic wheelchair basketball players for Germany Paralympic gold medalists for Germany Paralympic silver medalists for Germany Paralympic medalists in wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball players at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair basketball players at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair basketball players at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Recipients of the Silver Laurel Leaf Centers (basketball) Wheelchair basketball players at the 2024 Summer Paralympics 21st-century German sportswomen