Edina Mueller

Started: She took up Para canoe in 2014 in Hamburg, Germany. (Athlete, 21 Aug 2021) Reason: Having previously competed in wheelchair basketball, a friend encouraged her to try Para canoe. "Para canoe is very integrative, a bit more even than wheelchair basketball. You get in the same boat as the other canoeists during training and you just go. As soon as you are in the boat there is no difference." (paralympic.org, 06 Apr 2015) Ambition: To compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (LinkedIn profile, 27 Oct 2023) Milestones: She became the first German paddler to win a Paralympic gold medal when she triumphed in the women's KL1 200m at the 2020 Games in Tokyo. The medal also made her the first German paddler to win more than one Paralympic medal in the sport. (SportsDeskOnline, 01 Jul 2024) She became the first female German paddler to win a Paralympic medal when she claimed silver in the women's KL1 200m at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. (SportsDeskOnline, 01 Jul 2024) Awards: She and triathlete Martin Schulz were Germany's flag bearers at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (medias.paris2024.org, 28 Aug 2024) In 2020 she was named in the Team of the Decade by the German National Paralympic Committee. (kanu.de, 01 Dec 2020) She has been presented with the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt [Silver Laurel Leaf] three times. The honour is the highest sports award in Germany. (Facebook page, 23 Feb 2020; archive.org, 17 Jun 2013; bundespraesident.de, 07 Nov 2012) She was named the 2010 German International Wheelchair Basketball Athlete of the Year. (macromedia-fachhochschule.de, 15 Nov 2011) Additional Info: MOTHERHOOD She gave birth to her son Liam in January 2019 and returned to training seven weeks later. "I had a good pregnancy, was fit and was able to train for a long time. I gained seven kilos during pregnancy. They were virtually gone after the birth. So I didn't start from scratch. Certainly I had some good circumstances. I went [back to training] with great ease. I suddenly had something that was more important than sport." Liam is often present during her training sessions. "I always have the little one with me. He takes on the situation very well and makes it really easy for me to continue competitive sports. Of course there are also days when I am tired or he is not in a good mood. Then it gets more strenuous, but for the most part it goes very well. If a training session fails because of the little one, it's not that bad for me. In the training sessions that I do then, I'm fully focused. It is generally a challenge because as an athlete you have to adapt to the needs of the child. You may just have to organise and work a little bit more in a wheelchair, then everything works very well." (ndr.de, 26 Dec 2020; faz.net, 11 May 2020; netzathleten.de, 22 Aug 2019) OCCUPATION She has worked as a sports therapist at a hospital in Hamburg, Germany. (LinkedIn profile, 14 May 2024; sueddeutsche.de, 22 Aug 2023) FURTHER EDUCATION She has also studied rehabilitation pedagogy at the University of Cologne in Germany. (Athlete, 21 Aug 2021; LinkedIn profile, 01 Sep 2019)