Ezra Frech (born May 11, 2005) is an American

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete who competes in

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

and

sprinting Sprinting is running over a short distance at the top-most speed of the body in a limited period of time. It is used in many sports that incorporate running, typically as a way of quickly reaching a target or goal, or avoiding or catching an op ...

events. He is a two-time

Paralympian The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Kore ...

, having competed at the

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the Inte ...

and won two gold medals at the

2024 Summer Paralympics The 2024 Summer Paralympics (), also known as the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games (), and branded as Paris 2024, were the 17th Summer Paralympic Games, an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event governed by the International P ...

. He also won two silver medals at the

2019 Parapan American Games The 2019 Parapan American Games (), officially the VI Pan American Games and commonly known as the Lima 2019 ParaPan-Am Games, were an international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities, celebrated in the tradition of the Parapan Am ...

. Frech is a

motivational speaker A motivational speaker (or inspirational speaker) is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. Such speakers may attempt to challenge or transform their audiences. The speech itself is popularly known as a pep ta ...

and

disability rights The disability rights movement is a global social movement that seeks to secure equal opportunities and equal rights for all disabled people. It is made up of organizations of disability activists, also known as disability advocates, around ...

advocate.

Early life

Frech was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, to mother

Bahar Soomekh Bahar Soomekh () is an American former actress who later became a real estate agent. She is best known for her roles in '' Crash'' and the ''Saw'' franchise. Early life and education Bahar was born in Tehran, Iran, to a devout Persian-Jewish fam ...

, an actress born in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and raised in Los Angeles, and father Clayton Frech, an American of German heritage. He has two younger brothers, Gabriel and Elijah. Frech was born without most of his left leg (missing a knee and

fibula The fibula (: fibulae or fibulas) or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. ...

) and missing fingers on his left hand. He received his first

prosthetic In medicine, a prosthesis (: prostheses; from ), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through physical trauma, disease, or a condition present at birth (Congenital, congenital disord ...

leg when he was 11 months old. When he was 2 years old, Frech had surgery to remove his lower left leg and transplanted a toe from his amputated foot onto his left hand at

Boston Children's Hospital Boston Children's Hospital (formerly known as Children's Hospital Boston until 2013) is the main pediatric training and research hospital of Harvard Medical School, Harvard University. It is a nationally ranked, freestanding acute care children ...

. Frech is a 2023 graduate of the Brentwood School. In February 2024, he became the first above-the-knee amputee to commit to an

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

track and field team at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. , he is studying for a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in the business of cinematic arts.

Career

As a child, Frech played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

, and

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...

before focusing on

when he was 8 years old. His first track meet was in 2013 at the Endeavor Games in Edmond,

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, where he broke several national youth records and was inspired to continue in track and field. His father was also inspired at the Endeavor Games to create a similar event in Los Angeles, naming it the Angel City Games. Frech was a 2014 finalist for ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' Sportkid of the Year. Frech's first international meet was at the 2019 World Para Athletics Junior Championships, where he won one gold and two bronze medals. He won two silver medals at the

. Frech was the youngest athlete to compete at the

2019 World Para Athletics Championships The 2019 World Para Athletics Championships was a Paralympic athletics, Paralympic track and field event organised by the World Para Athletics subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee. It was held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from ...

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

. He made the finals in all three of his events, but did not medal. In 2021, at the delayed

2020 Summer Paralympic Games The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the Inte ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, Frech placed 5th in the high jump T63 event with a personal best of (missing the podium by 3 cm) and 8th in the long jump T63 event with . At the

2023 World Para Athletics Championships The 2023 World Para Athletics Championships was a Paralympic track and field meet organized by the World Para Athletics subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee. It was the 10th edition of the event and was held in the Charlety St ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, Frech won the gold medal in high jump T63 and set a new world record at . He also competed in the men's long jump T63 event. At the

2024 World Para Athletics Championships The 2024 World Para Athletics Championships was a para-athletics meet organized by the World Para Athletics, the respective sport branch of the International Paralympic Committee. This was the 11th edition of the event and was held at Kobe Univ ...

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

, he placed 2nd in the high jump T63 and 4th in the long jump T63. Frech broke his own world record in high jump T63 at the 2024 USA Paralympic Trials with a jump of . He also placed first in the long jump T63, breaking the U.S. record with a jump of . Frech competed at the

in Paris, winning gold in the 100 meters T63 with a time of 12.06 seconds, and gold in the men's high jump T63 on his first jump at a height of , which also set a Paralympic Games record.

Philanthropy

In 2006, Frech’s family founded Team Ezra to provide financial resources to organizations that serve people with physical disabilities. Frech started speaking to schools at the age of 4 to raise awareness for people with impairments as part of his organization's project. In 2013, Frech, his father, Clayton Frech, and family and friends founded Angel City Sports to provide free, year-round access to sport training, equipment, and competitive opportunities for kids and adults with physical disabilities. Angel City Sports hosts one of the largest adaptive sporting events in the country, the Angel City Games, as well as events for veterans, first responders, and youth.

Competition history

International competitions

National competitions

References

External links

* *
Ezra Frech
at the

Paris 2024 Summer Paralympics The 2024 Summer Paralympics (), also known as the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games (), and branded as Paris 2024, were the 17th Summer Paralympic Games, an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event governed by the International P ...

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Frech, Ezra 2005 births Living people American male long jumpers American male high jumpers American male sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for the United States Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) American people of German descent American people of Iranian-Jewish descent Jewish American track and field athletes Medalists at the World Para Athletics Championships Medalists at the 2019 Parapan American Games Paralympic track and field athletes for the United States Track and field athletes from Los Angeles World Para Athletics Championships winners 21st-century American sportsmen Parapan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Parapan American Games silver medalists for the United States