Britta Siegers

Britta Siegers (born 4 July 1966) is a retired German wheelchair tennis player and Paralympic swimmer who competed in international level events. She was the first German disabled athlete to compete in two different sports at the Paralympics: she was a swimmer from 1984 to 1992 and returned twelve years later as a wheelchair tennis player at the 2004 Summer Paralympics.[1]

Britta Siegers

Siegers (centre) at a medal ceremony at the 1984 Summer Paralympics
Personal information
Born	4 July 1966 Bergisch-Gladbach, Germany
Sport
Country	Germany
Sport	Paralympic swimming Wheelchair tennis
Medal record Paralympic swimming Representing  Germany Paralympic Games 1984 Stoke Mandeville/New York Women's 100m freestyle A1 1984 Stoke Mandeville/New York Women's 100m backstroke A1 1988 Seoul Women's 100m backstroke L4 1992 Barcelona Women's 100m backstroke S8 1992 Barcelona Women's 400m freestyle S8 1992 Barcelona Women's 100m breaststroke SB6-7 1992 Barcelona Women's 200m individual medley SM8 1992 Barcelona Women's 4x100m medley S7-10 1984 Stoke Mandeville/New York Women's 100m breaststroke A1 1988 Seoul Women's 100m freestyle L4 1992 Barcelona Women's 50m freestyle S8 1992 Barcelona Women's 100m freestyle S8 1992 Barcelona Women's 4x100m freestyle S7-10

Swimming career

Siegers' first sport was swimming when she started in 1969 after she lost both of her legs in a train accident aged two years old. She swam competitively in 1984 at the Summer Paralympics and won her first medals there. Her most successful Paralympic Games was in 1992 where she won five gold medals, two silvers and one bronze medal, she narrowly missed winning her consecutive freestyle titles after being beaten by Priya Cooper in both the 50m and 100m freestyle S8.[2]

Tennis career

Siegers began playing wheelchair tennis in the early 1994 after her retirement to swimming in 1992. She won seven singles titles and eleven doubles titles and her highest ranking was World No. 8 in July 2003, she competed at her fourth and last Summer Paralympics Games in Athens in 2004 where she reached the quarterfinals in the women's singles.[3][4]

References

1. "News from JTFP (in German)". Deutsche Behindertensport Jugend. 7 May 2012.
2. "Britta Siegers - IPC Profile". International Paralympic Committee. 12 October 2020.
3. "Britta Siegers - ITF Profile". International Tennis Federations. 12 October 2020.
4. "The second career of the power woman (in German)". ksta.de. 3 June 2004.