Paralympic Games Paris 2024: USA's Ezra Frech soars to double Paralympic glory in 24 hours
From a fifth-place finish in Tokyo 2020 to claiming two gold medals at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games in just 24 hours, Team USA's Ezra Frech is on a mission to become the greatest Paralympian of all time.
On 2 September, in the men’s T63 100m final, Frech shocked everyone by claiming his first Paralympic title in a dramatic photo finish—a race no one, including Frech, expected him to win.
Less than 24 hours later, he soared to victory once more, this time in his best event, the T63 high jump, setting a new Paralympic record with a 1.94m jump. His 100-day social media countdown to gold was complete.
From dreaming of gold to manifesting it on the grandest stage, the 19-year-old's meteoric rise to the top of Para athletics has left the world—and himself—in awe.
The genesis of a dream
Frech’s journey to Paralympic gold began long before he understood the magnitude of the dreams he would one day chase. Born with congenital limb differences, Frech received his first prosthetic leg at just 11 months old, and, at the age of four, he ran on his first running blade.
This unforgettable moment ignited a fire within him for movement, speed, and the feeling of freedom that only athletics could provide.
“I remember the feeling to this day,” Frech told Sports Illustrated. “It was epic, it was so impactful. I remember thinking, man, I need to experience this all the time.”
From that moment on, Frech was unstoppable.
He played soccer, basketball, and ran track, determined to compete alongside his peers. But it wasn’t until he attended his first adaptive sports event, the Endeavor Games in Edmond, Oklahoma, at the age of eight, that he realized there was a world of competitive sports specifically designed for athletes like him.
More fuel was added to his fire.
The Road to Tokyo: Fueling the fire
As Frech grew, so did his dreams. In 2016, at just 11 years old, as he watched the Paralympic Games Rio 2016, the teenager made a bold declaration to his friends and family: he was going to make the U.S. Paralympic team for Tokyo 2020.
“Everyone said I was crazy,” he shared. “It was statistically unlikely. I mean, an 11-year-old saying he’s gonna make the Games in four years is utterly ridiculous.”
Many might have dismissed this as the naive optimism of a child, but Frech was deadly serious. His commitment to his goal never wavered, even as the COVID-19 pandemic postponed the Games by a year.
At 16, he made good on his promise, earning a spot on the U.S. Paralympic team.
However, his experience in Tokyo didn’t unfold the way he had hoped. Competing in the T63 high jump, Frech narrowly missed the podium, finishing fifth by a matter of inches. The disappointment was crushing.
“That is undoubtedly one of the most devastating moments of my entire life,” Frech said. “It’s easy to fail in private. It’s hard to fail on the world stage where everyone sees it.”
And, as he sat alone on the track, watching the medalists celebrate with their flags, Frech made a vow to himself: “Never again.”
He memorialized that moment by setting his phone’s wallpaper to a picture of the podium, the men that had beat him, to serve as a constant reminder of the pain of falling short and the fuel for his relentless pursuit.
Frech left Tokyo a Paralympian, having added the Paralympic flame to the already raging fire within him.
A golden moment, one day ahead of schedule
Fast forward to Paris 2024.
The memory of Tokyo still drove Frech, but it no longer haunted him.
Instead, it became a source of strength, fueling him to new heights - literally. But, before he would take to the high jump pitch, the 19-year-old still had some business to attend to on the track.
Frech lined up for the 100-meter final in Paris with the mindset that this race was merely a warm-up, a "shake out," he called it, for the high jump finals the next day.
But as the race unfolded, Frech found himself in a position he hadn’t fully anticipated.
He stormed back from a slow start, gaining speed and confidence with every stride. As he crossed the finish line, just .02 seconds ahead of Denmark’s Daniel Wagner, Frech realized he had done the unthinkable - he had won his first Paralympic gold medal.
“I’m quite shocked,” the newly-crowned Paralympic champion shared. “I’m still taking it in right now. I was definitely not expecting to go out there and win. I was treating this as a warm-up for the high jump, to get the blood flowing and have a good race."
Frech’s journey to Paralympic gold was meticulously documented on social media, where he began a 100-day countdown with the mantra, “Day X/100 until I win Paralympic gold."
Each day, he posted updates that reflected his unwavering belief in himself, sharing his progress, mindset, and the challenges he faced along the way. This countdown became a powerful narrative, drawing in supporters and serving as a public declaration, and manifestation of his commitment to achieving greatness.
But even though the gold medal around his neck came early, Frech wasn’t satisfied. His eyes were still set on the high jump.
"Funny enough, I actually beat the countdown. But don't think that there is an ounce of complacency in my soul. Tomorrow night we complete the countdown and win gold again," he posted on social media.
The fire was burning brighter than ever.
Soaring to new heights: Frech clinches his second gold
Just 24 hours after his stunning victory in the 100 meters, he returned to the Stade de France for the men's T63 high jump final on 3 September.
Despite the immense pressure, Frech remained focused, even as he struggled to sleep the night before due to the excitement of his 100-meter victory. “I almost had to forget it, leave it in the past to refocus for today," he said. "Luckily, at about 2 p.m., I totally forgot that I won the 100 meters because it was just so far gone, and then I was able to focus up and get the job done,” he told Olympics.com following his final.
But the high jump was Frech's main event, the one where he held the world record. In 2023, at the Para Athletics World Championships in Paris, Frech set the tone for the Paralympics by winning the T63 high jump with a 1.86-meter jump, surpassing his Tokyo best and breaking the world record twice in one day (1.95 meters). These achievements signaled that Frech was not just competing—he was dominating.
He carried that mindset into Day 100 of his Paralympic countdown, knowing this was his moment to shine.
The 19-year-old soared over the bar, clearing a new Paralympic record height of 1.94 meters—14 centimeters higher than his jump in Tokyo (1.80)—and secured his second gold medal of the Paris Paralympics.
Reflecting on his mental preparation, Frech shared, “I’ve been writing down every morning, ‘I’m the Paralympic champion,’ and writing it down at night, speaking it out loud, saying it into the mirror, and journaling it. I have hundreds of pages filled with that same sentence, over and over, just convincing myself that I am the Paralympic champion. So when I went out there, after one miss at 1.85 meters, I sat there reminding myself who I was,” the double Paralympic champion told Olympics.com.
The power of journaling shines once again.
Beyond the medals: A mission to normalize disability
For Frech, the gold medals and world records are significant, but they are not the ultimate goal.
His true mission is to use his platform to change the way the world views disability. He wants to normalize disability and see Paralympians celebrated not just as athletes with disabilities but as elite athletes, period.
“I would trade in every medal, every world record, every national championship title if it meant I could normalize disability in the process,” Frech said. “That's what I'm about. I just know that those accolades are a step to reach that larger goal.”
Frech envisions a future where Paralympians break into mainstream media, where their stories are told not just in the context of overcoming adversity but as examples of excellence in their own right. He dreams of a world where the next generation of Para athletes has role models in the spotlight, showing them what’s possible.
“This is not a pity party for people with disabilities who got active and participated in sports,” he emphasized. “These are the best athletes in the world. They’re just missing a leg. They’re paralyzed. They’re blind. Whatever it might be, [they’re the] best in the world at what they do.”
The double Paralympic champion hopes that his Paris 2024 medals will help advance this mission.
"I believe I was put here on this earth to normalise disability, change perceptions about what is possible as an amputee, winning back-to-back golds, leading the Paralympic movement until 2028. That’s why it was written. The universe gave me the script and all I had to do was this, this, this and this was going to happen tonight."
As Frech looks ahead to the next Paralympics in his home town of Los Angeles in 2028, he is more determined than ever to continue on his path to becoming the greatest Paralympian of all time.
"I have no doubt when the Paralympic Games come to LA in 2028, the Coliseum is going to be sold out," Frech declared.