The only woman on Team Norway, a doctor, a mother, and maybe soon, an astronaut. The sky has never been the limit for Lena Schrøder.
The only woman on Team Norway, a doctor, a mother, and maybe soon, an astronaut. The sky has never been the limit for Lena Schrøder.
Lena Schrøder sees opportunity everywhere she looks, whether it's the ice, in a hospital, or the sky.
At the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Paralympics, Schroeder was the only woman on the ice in the para ice hockey competition, suiting up for Norway. She was the second ever woman to play para ice hockey at the Paralympics, reaching the competition 24 years after another Norwegian woman, Britt Mjaasund Oyen, who played for Norway at the 1994 Lillehammer Games.
Born with spina bifida, Schrøder began playing hockey in 2008 and ascended rapidly to Norway's national para ice hockey team in 2014. At the 2019 World Championships, Schrøder played every game for Norway, who finished fifth at the tournament. At the time, she was studying to become a doctor at the University of Oslo. Only months after becoming a doctor, and beginning work on a cardiology ward in an Oslo hospital, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Schrøder was on the front lines, working long shifts testing cardiology patients for COVID-19.
In October 2022, Schrøder gave birth to her first child. Then, only four months later, Schrøder was named as a candidate to become one of Norway's new astronauts.
Recruited by Norway's Next Step Space, Schrøder was selected to potentially join a crew who will study accessibility in space, among other items. According to Next Step, Schrøder has every characteristic, whether it's on the ice, or in becoming an astronaut, needed for success.
"[G]ive her something that triggers her curiosity, a pinch of medical science and technology, and a big dose of a challenge that many believes is impossible, and there you go, the ingredients needed to bring out the best in her," Next Step wrote of Schrøder.
In 2022, another woman, China's Jing Yu became the third woman to compete in Paralympic ice hockey. In 2023, Canada's Para Hockey roster for the Development Series against USA also included a pair of women - Alanna Mah who plays club para ice hockey for the Edmonton Impact and Raphaëlle Tousignant who plays for Transat de Montreal.
For all, Lena Schrøder was a forerunner, and continues to break barriers for women and women with disabilities.