Maya Lindholm (born 20 December 1990) is a 2.5 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 with the German national team that 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. It also won a European title in 2011 and was runner-up in 2013. 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).

Biography

Maya Lindholm was born in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

on 20 December 1990. In 2004, she awoke one morning with severe back pain, and within hours she could no longer move her legs. Doctors diagnosed spinal cord inflammation. She is studying to be an

occupational therapist Occupational therapists (OTs) are health care professionals specializing in occupational therapy and occupational science. OTs and occupational therapy assistants (OTAs) use evidence-based practice, scientific bases and a Holism, holistic perspec ...

at the BG Trauma Hospital in Hamburg Boberg. She began playing

for fun at the hospital in 2005. In 2009, she was selected as part of the national team. Classified as a 2.5 point player, Lindholm plays

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

. She was part of the team that won the European Championships in

Nazareth Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...

, Israel, in 2011, thereby qualifying for the

2012 Summer Paralympic Games The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Game ...

in London. As part of the team's preparation, they toured the United States and Australia. The German team went through the group stage undefeated, but 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. 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 ...

, which had defeated them 48–46 in Sydney just a few months before. In front of a crowd of over 12,985 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 ...

, they defeated the Australians 58–44 to win the gold medal, the first that Germany had won in women's wheelchair basketball since 1984. They were awarded the Silver Laurel Leaf by President

in November 2012, They were also named Team of the Year in Disability Sports for 2012, an annual award voted for by 3,000 members of the Association of German Sports Journalists. Lindholm's local team,

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...

, which also included national teammates Mareike Adermann and

Edina Müller Edina Müller (born 28 June 1983) is a German 2.5 point wheelchair basketball player and KL1 canoeist. She played for ASV Bonn in the German wheelchair basketball league, and for the national team. As part of the German women's national whee ...

(and Australia's Bridie Kean) won the women's national championship for the eighth time in 2013. Lindholm was also part of the Hamburger SV team that had previously won it in 2010. The German national team was not so fortunate, losing the final of the European Championship to the Netherlands before a home town crowd in Frankfurt. It 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 ...

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 ...

, Ontario, Canada, and 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

*2010: German Women's National League champion (Hamburg SV) *2010: Silver at the IWBF World Championships (Birmingham, Great Britain) *2011: Gold at the

European Wheelchair Basketball Championship The European Wheelchair Basketball Championship, is the main wheelchair basketball competition contested biennially by national teams governed by IWBF Europe, the European zone within the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation. The Europ ...

s (Nazareth, Israel) *2012: Gold at the Paralympic Games (London, England) *2013: German Women's National League champion (Hamburg SV) *2013: Silver at the European Championships (Frankfurt, Germany) *2014: Silver at the World Championships (Toronto, 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)

Awards

*2012: Team of the Year *2012: Silver Laurel Leaf

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lindholm, Maya 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 Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Recipients of the Silver Laurel Leaf Basketball players from Hamburg Power forwards Wheelchair basketball players at the 2024 Summer Paralympics 21st-century German sportswomen