Former Shriners Children’s Patient Aims for Successful Paris Games to Close Out Paralympic Career

Aug 14, 2024

Former Shriners Children’s Portland patient McKenna Geer will write the final chapter of her para shooting career this summer in Paris when she competes at her third Paralympic Games.

Geer graduated high school in 2014 and became a full-time Paralympic athlete right after graduation, living at the Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, at the time as an up-and- coming athlete. Now with two games under her belt and a bronze medal, she also has a 1-year-old daughter and sees this chapter of her life coming to a close.

Geer credits Shriners Children’s Portland for setting her up for life with the early surgeries she received from the nonprofit healthcare system. She was about 6 months old when she had her first surgery at Shriners Children’s to correct her club feet. Born with amyoplasia arthrogryposis that also affects her left hand, Geer started going to Shriners Children’s when she was extremely young, and said her mom told her she received crucial care between the time she was born and when she turned 1 in Portland where her clubfoot was corrected.

I remember the long car rides as a little kid and then seeing all the smiling faces when we arrived at Shriners Children’s. Everyone was so nice and friendly, which was really important for a young kid like me going through so many significant life changes.
McKenna, former patient Shriners Children's Portland patient

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“Growing up, Shriners Children’s Portland was about five hours from where I lived in Washington, north of Seattle,” Geer said. “I remember the long car rides as a little kid and then seeing all the smiling faces when we arrived at Shriners Children’s. Everyone was so nice and friendly, which was really important for a young kid like me going through so many significant life changes.”

After spending many Paralympic cycles with an intense focus on her craft as an athlete, Geer welcomed her daughter into the world after the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics, changing her focus from sport to being a mom. Geer competed in para trials just four days after her maternity leave ended and went through multiple competitions to qualify for Paris, feeling a huge sense of relief when she shot the qualifying score. Geer said she just missed out on silver at the 2016 Games in Rio by around half a millimeter, and emphasized how important the mental side of the game is in para shooting.

“Returning to training as a mom has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done,” Geer said. “Going into my third Games, I’m just really excited to get to close out this portion of my life on a high note. I’m so stoked for Paris, and this whole journey has been so much fun. My husband has been such an amazing supporter of this last leg of my career. I absolutely love sport, but it’s not the most important thing to me in the world anymore.”

Geer will aim for the podium once again in her last appearance at the Paralympics, competing in the R4, R5 and R9 events in Paris this summer.

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