Annika Zeyen

Annika Zeyen

Annika Zeyen in Toronto, June 2014
Personal information
Nickname(s)	Anni
Nationality	German
Born	(1985-02-17) 17 February 1985 (age 32)
Sport
Country	Germany
Sport	Wheelchair basketball
Disability class	1.5
Event(s)	Women's team
College team	University of Alabama
Coached by	Brent Hardin
Achievements and titles
Paralympic finals	2008 Paralympics, 2012 Paralympics, 2016 Paralympics
Medal record Wheelchair basketball Paralympic Games 2012 London Women's Wheelchair basketball 2008 Beijing Women's Wheelchair basketball 2016 Rio de Janeiro Women's Wheelchair basketball IWBF World Championship 2010 Birmingham, Great Britain Women's wheelchair basketball 2014 Toronto, Canada Women's wheelchair basketball 2006 Amsterdam, Netherlands Women's wheelchair basketball

Annika Zeyen (born 17 February 1985) is a 1.5-point wheelchair basketball player, who has played for ASV Bonn and RSV Lahn-Dill in the German wheelchair basketball league, and for the University of Alabama in the United States. She has also played for the national team, with which she won three European titles, was the runner-up at 2010 World Championships, won silver at the 2008 Summer Paralympic Games in Beijing, and won a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, for which President Joachim Gauck awarded the team Germany's highest sporting honour, the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt (Silver Laurel Leaf).

Zeyen was born on 17 February 1985. She is nicknamed "Anni". At the age of 14, she was involved in a serious horse riding accident that left her paralysed. During rehab, she was introduced to the sport of wheelchair basketball. She left the hospital and started looking for a club where she could play.

Zeyen joined ASV Bonn, initially playing with the youth team, then with the seconds, and finally with the firsts. In 2001, she played in the German Championships for Women, and was named most valuable young player. In 2004, she switched to RSV Lahn-Dill, with which she won several German championships. She was invited to try out for the national team, and joined its development squad. She competed in her first paralympic games, the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens. She subsequently played for the national team that won the European championships in 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2011.

In September 2008, Zeyen participated in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, but Germany was beaten in the gold medal match by the United States team, which contained three of her former team mates from the University of Alabama, Stephanie Wheeler, Mary Allison Milford and Alana Nichols. The German team took home Paralympic silver medals instead. After the Paralympics, the team's performance was considered impressive enough for it to be named the national "Team of the Year", and it received the Silver Laurel Leaf, Germany's highest sporting honour, from German President Horst Koehler.