From a young age, Vanvan Leeuwen was a low-level competitive [[speed skater]]. When she was 18 years old she crashed during a competition in [[Leiden]]. There wasn’t a proper safety boarding, causing her toito become [[paraplegia|paraplegic]]. After two years of recovery, she started to again become involved with sports. She started with wheelchair basketball and after contacting the national coach, she was able to become part of the national team.<ref name="auto"/>
coach she was able to become part of the national team.<ref name="auto"/>
In 2000, shevan Leeuwen was a professional player in [[Badajoz]] in western Spain while she was conducting research.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Velthuis|first=Rob|date=2001-01-20|title='Ik sta op de wereld om gelukkig dood te gaan'|url=https://www.trouw.nl/gs-b19716c1|access-date=2021-07-12|website=Trouw|language=nl-NL}}</ref> It was a team of men and she was asked to join them and she stayed there for a year.<ref name=medi/> She also played at the [[2000 Summer Paralympics]], [[2004 Summer Paralympics]] and [[2014 Women's World Wheelchair Basketball Championship]]. Due to pregnancy, she couldn’t compete at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.
At the beginning of her wheelchair basketball career, Vanvan Leeuwen was studying medicine. Later, also next to her wheelchair basketball activity, she was a [[general practitioner]],<ref name="auto"/> but she became a paediatrician in 2012 so that she could then work part-time.<ref name=medi>{{Cite web|title=‘Ik ga altijd voor het hoogst haalbare’|url=https://www.medischcontact.nl/nieuws/laatste-nieuws/artikel/ik-ga-altijd-voor-het-hoogst-haalbare.htm|access-date=2021-07-11|website=www.medischcontact.nl|language=nl}}</ref>
In 2016, shevan Leeuwen returned to the national team and she competed and won a team bronze medal at the [[2016 Summer Paralympics]] in Rio. She was the oldest player inon the team but there were two others also in their 40s.<ref name=medi/>
