ATLANTA — At his Paralympic debut, Cartersville native, Garrett Geros impressed the world when he won a silver medal in the men’s LL2 snowboard cross race on Sunday.
Geros has become one of the best at his sport despite having only four years of professional training.
Back at home, Geros’ father, David Geros, and his stepmom Jordan Geros are excited about the big win.
“In one way, very relieved. We're glad it's over. It's been a buildup," said David Geros. "It's been overbearing in my stomach and just anticipation, especially the whole day yesterday, waking up and having to wait all day long until eleven o'clock last night for it to happen but you know, we're super excited.”
They say Geros exceeded expectations at the event.
“His goal was to at least make it to the finals, you know, one of the big finals or small finals, just to finish in the top 10 and I just had a feeling that he was going to get on that podium, and he did," said David Geros.
At 16 years old, Garrett got into a near-fatal car accident where his vehicle wrapped around a tree. This left surgeons to amputate Geros’ leg below the knee and his family to figure out what would happen next.
“In the beginning, it started off as a big depression”, David Geros said, “You can imagine being a high school kid, playing football, running track, being a wrestler and just always active. Never a moment off, we would go from one season to another and then in five minutes, you're laid in a hospital bed in intensive care, just wondering what's going to happen with your life.”
Garrett Geros Recovery
Things turned around when Geros and his father started looking into the Paralympics to find the thing that would change his life.
“I said, you want to try to snowboarding because I taught him to snowboard," said David Geros.
Geros was taken to Colorado after graduating high school to try out in front of Amy Purdy, a three-time Paralympic medalist in snowboarding.
"We took him out there. He tried out. They said we want him," said David Geros.
Since 2018, Geros has been preparing to compete in the Beijing Paralympics, and despite factors like his car accident and the pandemic, his commitment never wavered.
“I mean, he's really dedicated everything”, Jordan Geros explains, “I mean, from going to the gym two to three hours a day, skating in the summer, riding in the winter, I mean, he's really, really just put in the time and effort.”
Now, Geros' parents are looking forward to seeing what comes next for the young Paralympian.
"This is his life now, and I mean, I see three or four more Olympics in it," said David Geros.
