Claire
Keefer

Claire Keefer has shown incredible promise as a Paralympic thrower since being discovered by her brother’s athletics coach at 14.

Until then, Claire had avoided the track and field – she could not run, so she did not see the point – but from the moment she first picked up a shot put and discus, her future as a Paralympic champion was sealed.

The following year, Claire began training with a coach who specialised in Para-athletics, and together they began working towards selection to the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. Although Claire was devastated to be missing the 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships and London 2012 Paralympic Games – F41 athletes under the age of 18 are ineligible to compete – she put all that extra time to good use.

Between 2009 and 2015, Claire worked exceptionally hard to improve her technique, and so by the time the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha, Qatar, rolled around, she was ready to contend for a medal. Claire won her first major international medal, a bronze, in the women’s shot put F41, and defended it in Rio, before teaming up with superstar coach John Eden in 2017 to upgrade it to silver at that year’s World Para-athletics Championships in London, England.

Claire is proud to represent her country in a sport she loves and in an event which is growing in stature and importance. In the form of her life, she landed a monster 9.19m throw last November to win her second World Championships bronze medal, and is now fully focussed on gold at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.