Southern California’s Ezra Frech: Team USA Paralympian aims to change world

Ezra Frech's Paralympic passion is about more than just a pursuit of gold medals. 

As he prepares for his second Paralympic Games, the incoming Southern California student-athlete is aiming to make a difference far beyond the high jump and long jump events in which he's competing. Frech, a 19-year-old who competes in the T63 classification, is determined to use his platform to advocate for the Paralympic movement and normalize disability.

"I believe that my goals stretch way beyond track and field. I see the Paralympics and I see track and field as a catalyst or a vehicle to normalize disability on a global scale, to be an example of what is possible as an amputee," Frech said. 

This passion started at an early age, too. 

Born with congenital limb differences, Frech received his first prosthetic leg when he was just 11 months old and had his left leg amputated at 2. Despite these challenges, he was determined to engage in various sports, including basketball, soccer, baseball and karate, before focusing on track and field. His first exposure to adaptive sports came at the age of 8, when his father took him to an adaptive track meet.

"That was the first time I competed against other people with disabilities, and it definitely opened my eyes and changed my perspective," Frech said.

However, it wasn't until he watched the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games that Frech's passion for the Paralympics truly ignited.

"I was so inspired by seeing some of the athletes on the team compete on my TV screen. It was this epiphany, out of body, the universe was telling me this is your calling type moment," he says. "I told my family, I told my friends, I said I was going to make the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic team. Everyone said I was crazy."

What seemed crazy became reality. Frech's hard work paid off and, at 15, he finished fifth in high jump and eighth in long jump at the Tokyo Paralympics. He recently won gold at the 2023 World Championships. 

Each step in his career has been fueled by the same thing, however, and it has little to do with collecting hardware.

"I truly want to destigmatize disability," he said. "I believe through the promotion of the Paralympic Games, through proper representation of our community in the mainstream media, we can change that. We can normalize disability globally. And that's my passion. That's what I think my purpose is. So it goes way beyond athletics. 

"For me, I would trade in every medal, every world record, every national championship title, if it meant I could normalize disability in the process."

This mission is deeply personal for Frech, who grew up without seeing someone in mainstream media with a physical disability to look up to.

"I want to be that person for the next generation," he said. "I want to inspire all people with disabilities."

Frech's commitment to this cause is evident in his choice to compete at Southern California after the Paris Paralympics, becoming the first above-the-knee amputee to commit to a Division I track and field program. Frech's drive to compete against able-bodied athletes at a storied track and field program is rooted in his life's mission. It's about changing perceptions.

"People will be tuning in watching USC track meets, seeing an above-the-knee amputee long jump and high jump, and going, 'What the hell is happening right now? How is he doing that?'" he said. "For the little kid who's an amputee who loves track and field to go see someone who looks like him competing at a collegiate level — that's the type of stuff that really excites me."

Frech's advocacy extends beyond the track, too. He is also a motivational speaker and a dedicated disability rights advocate. Inspired by his passion for sports, his family founded Angel City Sports and the Angel City Games, providing free sports training for children and adults with disabilities. This initiative has grown into a significant movement promoting adaptive sports.

Its work, like his on the track, aligns with his singular mission: to be a catalyst for change in the Paralympic movement and beyond.

"At the end of the day, every view, every follower, every person that watches the Paralympic Games, every person that reads an article (on Paralympians) is a step toward where disability is slightly more normalized in their eyes. And that's unbelievably important," Frech said. "I see it on a day-to-day basis with my nonprofit. There's kids and families that see me on social media, saw me on a TV interview, came out to our nonprofits event, and their lives are forever changed because of that.  

"I don't take this lightly. This is the world to me. This is everything to me. And I look forward to continuing to march down that trajectory of normalizing disability."