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Silverthorne’s Garrett Geros wins silver at Paralympic Games

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Cody Jones

Daniel Gale, executive director of Adaptive Action Sports, reacts while watching Summit County based athletes compete in the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games during a watch party at The Pad in Silverthorne on Sunday, March 6.
Jason Connolly/For the Summit Daily News

On Sunday, March 6, four athletes from the Summit County based pro team Adaptive Action Sports competed in the snowboard cross event at the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing.

Katy Maddry, Mike Minor, Zach Miller and Garrett Geros all sealed their spot in the Sunday competition by making it past the qualifying round Saturday, March 5.

The action got underway Sunday night as close friends and teammates huddled together at The Pad in Silverthorne to cheer on the Adaptive Action Sports team. The quarterfinals started off the night, with the top two individuals in each race advancing.

Maddry was the first to compete, but did not get off to a great start, having trouble getting over the first jump feature. She tried to gain some ground in the latter part of the race but ended up finishing third in her heat to be eliminated from the competition.

The first-time Paralympian finished 12th out of 13 competitors who qualified to the seeded races.

PyeongChang gold and bronze medalist Mike Minor was the next Adaptive Action Sports athlete to take to the snowboard cross course at Genting Snow Park.

The Frisco resident was a bit slow out of the starting gate and spent most of the race attempting to close the gap with the top two riders. Minor ended up finishing third in his heat and not advancing after winning a bronze in the event in 2018.

Minor placed 11th out of 18 riders while China swept the top three places.

Treasure Miller and Daniel Gale, executive director of Adaptive Action Sports, speak with Miller’s son, paralympic athlete Zach Miller, after his run in the snowboard cross quarterfinals of the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games. Treasure Miller and Gale were at a watch party at The Pad in Silverthorne on Sunday, March 6.
Jason Connolly/For the Summit Daily News

In the men’s lower limb two classification quarterfinal round, Silverthorne residents Zach Miller and Garrett Geros were pinned against one another in the same race.

Miller and Geros raced side by side for most of the race until Geros executed on some turns in order to pull ahead of the competition and secure the first qualifying spot.

Miller, who is smaller than most of his competitors, finished third, just one spot from making the semifinals.

Even though Miller was eliminated, he showed no sense of disappointment as he proceeded to tackle his teammate at the finish line, congratulating him for advancing to the final.

“Zach gave a valiant fight,” said Daniel Gale, executive director of Adaptive Action Sports. “He is just so skilled. He is such a technical rider. He is one of the most technical on the circuit, he really genuinely is.”

Miller placed 11th out of 24 riders in the classification.

Summit County Paralympic athlete Zach Miller’s family — aunt Tiffany Gunter, from left, parents Treasure and Mike Miller, and brother Josh Tayne — watch a live feed of his snowboard cross competition during a watch party of the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games at The Pad in Silverthorne on Sunday, March 6.
Jason Connolly/For the Summit Daily News

In the semifinal round, it looked as if Geros would not advance to the final when he was taken out with another rider toward the beginning of the course.

Amazingly, Geros was able to regain his speed, and in the latter part of the race, he found himself in a position to finish in the top two. Geros came across the finish line in second place to advance to the final and vie for a medal.

In the final, Geros had a race deserving of a medal as he edged past his competitors around turns and properly managed his speed. He crossed the finish line to secure a silver medal for Team USA, Adaptive Action Sports and Summit County.

“We brought a silver medal back to Silverthorne,” Gale said. “It was perfect. We are so excited for him. He has put in a lot of hard work over the last couple of years, and we have been drilling, working hard and spending a lot of time on the mountain.”

All four of the Adaptive Action Sport athletes who competed in snowboard cross, plus Evan Strong, will compete Saturday, March 12, in the banked slalom.

“I would think that Mike, Zach and Garrett all have a real shot at a podium,” Gale said about the next event. “And for the girls, Katy is certainly a great banked slalom racer. She’s got some podiums through this last season, so she could also show up on race day.”

The banked slalom will be broadcast live on USA and Peacock TV starting at 9 p.m. Saturday.

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