Bo Kramer

Started: She began the sport in 2012 at age 14. (Athlete, 22 Jul 2016) Reason: She had aspired to become a professional footballer before bone cancer was discovered in her leg. Unable to play football any more, she began looking for another sport and discovered wheelchair basketball after taking part in a talent identification day. "It was love at first sight." (bbc.co.uk, 13 Aug 2024; nationalesportweek.nl, 2019; Athlete, 22 Jul 2016) Ambition: To compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (bbc.com, 03 Feb 2023; parawatcher.nl, 26 May 2023) Milestones: She was part of the Dutch squad that won the Netherlands' first Paralympic gold medal in women's wheelchair basketball at the 2020 Games in Tokyo. (SportsDeskOnline, 01 Jul 2024) Awards: She was named the 2019 Paralympic Athlete of the Year in Almere, Netherlands. (onsalmere.nl, 13 Feb 2020) Additional Info: EARLY PARALYMPIC EXPERIENCE Having made her Paralympic debut at age 17 at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, she feels that starting her Paralympic career at such a young age gave her the confidence and experience to improve her performance at subsequent editions of the Games. She went on to be part of the Dutch team that claimed gold at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. "I didn't quite know what to expect because it was so big and massive [at the 2016 Paralympic Games]. I let everything come to me, and I enjoyed everything. I think playing at the Paralympics at such a young age gave me a lot of experience. I was very nervous in Rio, so I didn't quite enjoy it as much as I did, for example in Tokyo, because I didn't know what to expect. But I already got some experience playing at the Paralympics, so it gave me a really good start to my career. I'm looking forward to Paris [2024 Paralympic Games]." (paralympic.org, 09 Feb 2024) FURTHER EDUCATION In 2022 she began studying for a master's degree in biomedical sciences at Radboud University in Nijmegen, Netherlands. (LinkedIn profile, 20 Dec 2023)