Claire Keefer
{{short description|Australian Paralympic athlete}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2015}}
{{Use Australian English|date=October 2015}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| name = Claire Keefer
| image = XXXX15 - Claire Keefer - 3b - 2016 Team processing.jpg
| headercolor = green
| textcolor = yellow
| caption = 2016 Australian Paralympic team portrait
| fullname = Claire Keefer
| nicknames =
| nationality = Australian
| club =
| collegeteam =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1995|5|5}}
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| height =
| weight =
| medaltemplates =
{{MedalSport | Women's para athletics}}
{{MedalCountry | {{AUS}} }}
{{MedalCompetition | Paralympic Games}}
{{MedalBronze | 2016 Rio|Shot put F41}}
{{MedalCompetition|World Championships}}
{{MedalBronze | 2015 Doha|Shot put F41}}
{{MedalSilver | 2017 London|Shot put F41}}
{{MedalBronze | 2019 Dubai|Shot put F41}}
}}
Claire Keefer (born 5 May 1995) is a short stature athlete from Australia. She represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics in athletics where she won a bronze medal.{{cite web |title=Australian Paralympic Athletics Team announced |url=https://www.paralympic.org.au/11564-2/ |website=Australian Paralympic Committee News, 2 August 2016 |date=2 August 2016 |access-date=2 August 2016}} She has won a silver and bronze medal at the World Para Athletics Championships.
Personal
She was born on 5 May 1995 with achondroplasia and is a person of short stature.{{cite web |title=Claire Keefer |url=http://ipc.infostradasports.com/asp/redirect/ipc.asp?page=athletebio&personid=1317679&sportid=513 |website=International Paralympic Committee Athletics profiles |access-date=26 October 2015 |archive-date=13 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191213093105/http://ipc.infostradasports.com/asp/redirect/ipc.asp?page=athletebio&personid=1317679&sportid=513 |url-status=dead }} Her parents Lindsay and Sue Keefer live in Withcott, Queensland.{{cite news |title=Paralympic dreams for Claire Keefer |url=http://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/news/paralympic-dreams-for-claire-keefer/2798115/ |access-date=27 October 2015 |work=The Morning Bulletin |date=6 October 2015 |archive-date=23 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180923102523/https://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/news/paralympic-dreams-for-claire-keefer/2798115/ |url-status=dead }} She attended St Ursula College in Toowoomba.{{cite news |last1=Leslie |first1=Cameron |title=Athlete secures gold at titles |url=http://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/athlete-secures-gold-at-titles/461424/ |access-date=27 October 2015 |work=The Chronicle |date=5 February 2010}} She lives mostly in Withcott, Queensland. She works part-time as a child care worker.
Career
Keefer competes in the F41 classification and started athletics in 2009. She was ineligible to compete at the 2012 London Paralympics due to being under 18. In the F41 classicification the only athletics events for women are the discus throw and shot put. in 2015, Keefer won the silver medal in discus and bronze medal in shot put at an IPC Grand Prix meet in Dubai.{{cite news |last1=Slatter |first1=Trent |title=Keefer on the road to Rio Paralympics |url=http://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/keefer-on-the-road-to-rio-paralympics/2807096/ |access-date=27 October 2015 |work=The Chronicle |date=15 October 2015}}
At the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha, she won the bronze medal in the Women's Shot Put F41 with a national record throw of 7.62m. She finished fourth in the Women's Discus F41.{{cite web |title=Doha2015 |url=http://www.athletics.com.au/News/doha-2015-perris-keefer |website=Athletics Australia website |date=27 October 2015 |access-date=27 October 2015}} She has received financial assistance from Aim For the Stars Foundation, the Layne Beachley Foundation.{{cite web |title=Claire Keefer |url=http://www.aimforthestars.com.au/recipient/claire-keefer |website=Aim for the Stars Foundation website |access-date=27 October 2015 |archive-date=3 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151203175725/http://www.aimforthestars.com.au/recipient/claire-keefer |url-status=dead }}
She visits the Queensland Academy of Sport in Brisbane four times per week to undertake technical coaching. Her philosophy is "Strength in size".
She won a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics in the Women's Shout Put F41 with a throw of 8.16 m.
At the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships in London, England, she won the silver medal in the Women's Shot Put F41 with a throw of 8.44m.{{cite web |last1=Ryner |first1=Sascha |title=Holt storms home in world record time |url=http://athletics.com.au/News/holt-storms-home-in-world-record-time |website=Athletics Australia News, 20 July 2017 |access-date=20 July 2017}} At the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai, she threw the shot put 9.19 to win the bronze medal Women's Shot Put F41.
Keefer announced her retirement from competition in April 2021.
{{Cite web |url=https://www.athletics.com.au/news/world-para-athletics-championships-dubai-day-8-recap/ |title=World Para Athletics Championships Dubai - Day 8 Recap |website=Athletics Australia |access-date=14 November 2019}}{{Cite web|title=Women's shot put F41|url=https://www.paralympic.org/static/info/resATDU19/pdf/ATDU19/AT/ATDU19_AT_C73S_ATWS41100.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200823185832/https://www.paralympic.org/static/info/resATDU19/pdf/ATDU19/AT/ATDU19_AT_C73S_ATWS41100.pdf|archive-date=23 August 2020|access-date=23 August 2020|website=2019 World Para Athletics Championships}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20241127120026/https://www.athletics.com.au/athlete-profiles-directory/claire-keefer-qld/ Claire Keefer] at Athletics Australia (archived)
- [http://athletics.possumbility.com/athletes/athlete7066.htm Claire Keefer] at Australian Athletics Historical Results
- {{IPC athlete|claire-keefer|old_id=1317679}}
- {{Paralympics Australia|claire-keefer}}
{{2016 Australian Paralympic Team}}
{{Portal bar|Australia|Biography|Sports|Athletics}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keefer, Claire}}
Category:Australian female discus throwers
Category:Australian female shot putters
Category:Paralympic athletes for Australia
Category:Paralympic bronze medalists for Australia
Category:Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field)
Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics
Category:Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics
Category:Competitors in athletics with dwarfism
Category:Female competitors in athletics with disabilities
Category:Sportswomen from Queensland
Category:Sportspeople from Toowoomba
Category:Athletes from Queensland
Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Paralympics