Ezra Frech

Frech was born in Los Angeles, California, to mother Bahar Soomekh, an actress born in Iran and raised in Los Angeles, and father Clayton Frech, an American of German heritage.^[3] He has two younger brothers, Gabriel and Elijah.^[4]

Frech was born without most of his left leg (missing a knee and fibula) and missing fingers on his left hand. He received his first prosthetic leg when he was 11 months old.^[5][6] 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.^[7]

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 track and field team at the University of Southern California.^[8] As of 2025^[update], he is studying for a bachelor’s degree in the business of cinematic arts.^[1]

As a child, Frech played basketball, baseball, soccer, and karate before focusing on track and field when he was 8 years old. His first track meet was in 2013 at the Endeavor Games in Edmond, Oklahoma, 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 Sportkid of the Year.^[9]

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 2019 Parapan American Games.

Frech was the youngest athlete to compete at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai. He made the finals in all three of his events, but did not medal.^[10][11]

In 2021, at the delayed 2020 Summer Paralympic Games in Tokyo, Frech placed 5th in the high jump T63 event with a personal best of 1.80 m (5 ft 10+3⁄4 in) (missing the podium by 3 cm) and 8th in the long jump T63 event with 5.85 m (19 ft 2+1⁄4 in).

At the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships in Paris, Frech won the gold medal in high jump T63 and set a new world record at 1.95 m (6 ft 4+3⁄4 in).^[12] He also competed in the men's long jump T63 event.^[13]

At the 2024 World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe, 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 1.97 m (6 ft 5+1⁄2 in).^[14] He also placed first in the long jump T63, breaking the U.S. record with a jump of 7.05 m (23 ft 1+1⁄2 in).^[15]

Frech competed at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris, winning gold in the 100 meters T63^[16] with a time of 12.06 seconds, and gold in the men's high jump T63 on his first jump at a height of 1.94 m (6 ft 4+1⁄4 in), which also set a Paralympic Games record.^[17]

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.^[18]

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.^[19] 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.