Germany and Great Britain name athletes for Rio 2016
Germany announced the men’s and women’s wheelchair basketball teams, whilst two British wheelchair fencers will make their Paralympic debut. 07 Jul 2016Andre Bienek
Germany’s 12-strong men’s and women’s wheelchair basketball teams and the two British wheelchair fencers for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games have been announced.
The women’s team aims to win its third consecutive Paralympic medal, after claiming silver at Beijing 2008 and gold at London 2012.
“With Simone Kues’ and Anne Briessmann’s experience and individual class, we have a strong low post”, said Holger Glinicki, who has been coaching the team for more than 10 years.
“Generally speaking, we do have a very balanced squad and we are definitely going to fight for the medals in Rio.”
Even though Germany is the reigning Paralympic and European champion, Glinicki believes they are not the team-to-beat.
“I think the Netherlands are the favourites for gold in Rio, followed by Germany, the USA, Great Britain and Canada.”
Coach Nicolai Zeltinger named the men’s wheelchair basketball team, which seeks to win a Paralympic medal after 24 years.
The team combines experienced with promising players and is ready to make a splash at Rio 2016.
“We now have an excellent mix of young and hungry, as well as experienced and calm players”, said Zeltinger.
Great Britain’s wheelchair fencing multi-world cup medallists Dimitri Coutya and Piers Gilliver have been selected to represent their country at Rio 2016.
Both will make their Paralympic debut and are hoping to win Great Britain’s first Paralympic medal in the sport in 28 years.
"I am very determined to go out to Rio and show people just what I am capable of achieving,” said 18-year-old Coutya.
“To represent your country at the Paralympic Games is the greatest privilege in our sport and I have worked incredibly hard over the last few years to stake my place on the team.”
21-year-old Gilliver also shared his excitement: “Many years of hard work has gone towards achieving this goal and I am pleased that all the hours of training have paid off.
“I am going to make every second count before I head out to compete in Rio as it is going to be the biggest competition of my career so far.”
Germany wheelchair basketball teams
Women
Anne Briessmann
Annabel Breuer
Laura Fuerst
Barbara Gross
Simone Kues
Maya Lindholm
Mareike Miller
Marina Mohnen
Anne Patzwald
Gesche Schuenemann
Johanna Welin
Annika Zeyen
Men
Andre Bienek
Thomas Boehme
Nico Dreimueller
Jan Haller
Aliaksandr Halouski
Matthias Heimback
Christopher Huber
Dirk Koehler
Björn Lohmann
Sebastian Magenheim
Kai Moeller
Dirk Passiwan
Great Britain wheelchair fencing
Dimitri Coutya
Piers Gilliver
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Sport fans from around the world can now buy their Paralympic tickets for Rio 2016 from authorised ticket resellers (ATRs).
The IPC’s Global ATR is Jet Set Sports, and Rio 2016 tickets and packages can be purchased on the CoSport website.
Residents of Brazil can buy 2016 Paralympics tickets directly from the Rio 2016 website.
Visa International is the exclusive payment card and the official payment system for the Paralympic Games.