Born with congenital limb differences, Ezra Frech had one finger on his left hand and a left leg that curved toward his waist. But his physical differences never stopped him from dreaming big. Despite facing stares, doubts, and people who underestimated him, he set his sights on becoming a Paralympic champion. “Everyone told me I was crazy,” Frech recalled. Yet he proved his doubters wrong at the Paris 2024 Paralympics, winning gold in both the men’s 100-meter sprint and high jump. Now, the DWTS star is opening up about the painful experiences that strengthened his determination to change how the world sees disability.

During an October 19 episode of On Purpose with Jay Shetty, Frech reflected on the reactions he faced from the moment he was born. Recalling his birth, he said, “There was so many people in the delivery room. My father started kicking people out of the room.” As he grew older, the attention continued, but it was not always kind.

“Everywhere you go in public, people staring, pointing fingers, whispering,” he explained. The experience left a lasting mark on him, and he summed up those painful encounters in four words: “I felt like a zoo animal.” However, Frech believes people sometimes react to disability with fear or discomfort.  He recalled being repeatedly doubted and underestimated, but those experiences eventually became a source of motivation.

“I was always doubted. I was always underestimated. That fueled me to want to prove people wrong,” he explained. Rather than allowing other people’s perceptions to limit his ambitions, Frech used them as motivation to pursue the goals that mattered to him.

Frech’s journey had already involved significant medical procedures early in life. When he was around three, doctors removed his lower left leg and transplanted his big toe onto his left hand to create a thumb. He had received his first prosthetic leg as a baby, but growing up with a visible disability brought challenges that medical treatment alone could not resolve. 

Sports gave Frech a place to focus on his abilities rather than his physical differences. He tried basketball, soccer, football, and baseball before finding his path in track and field. Then, in 2016, he watched the Paralympic Games in Rio and saw athletes with disabilities competing at the highest level. The experience changed how he viewed his own future. He wanted to become a Paralympian, and he set his sights on the Tokyo Games.

Frech achieved that goal when he qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, held in 2021 after the pandemic delay. But making the team was only part of his dream. He wanted to win a medal, particularly in the high jump. Instead, he finished fifth, missing the podium by just three centimeters. The result was heartbreaking, but it also gave him another reason to keep pushing toward the goal he had set for himself.

That persistence began to pay off at the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships in Paris, where Frech won the men’s T63 high jump with a clearance of 1.95 meters. Still, his biggest test awaited him at the Paralympics.

By the time Frech returned to Paris for the 2024 Paralympics, he had spent years visualizing himself as a champion. He wrote “I am the Paralympic champion” in his journal every morning and night, using those words to reinforce his belief in what he could accomplish. In his recent interview, he described how strongly he held on to that vision, even when others questioned him. “I would tell myself, I’m the Paralympic champion,” he recalled, explaining the mindset that kept him focused on winning gold.

His first victory came in the men’s 100-meter T63 final on September 2, 2024. Frech clocked 12.06 seconds to beat Denmark’s Daniel Wagner by just 0.02 seconds and claim his first Paralympic gold medal. The following day, he cleared 1.94 meters in the high jump to win his second gold and set a Paralympic record. His mother has also played an important role in shaping that outlook. Frech recalled the advice she gave him throughout his life: “You let them know you’ve arrived.” Reflecting on those words, he added, “Hope I lived up to those words.”

But for Frech, the medals represent only part of what he hopes to accomplish. He wants to challenge the assumptions surrounding disability and help others see beyond physical differences.

Ezra Frech extends his disability advocacy beyond Paralympic gold

Frech wants children with disabilities to see what is possible when they have access to sports, supportive communities, and opportunities to compete. That belief helped inspire him and his father, Clayton Frech, to build something that could open doors for other athletes.

In 2013, the father-son duo co-founded Angel City Sports after attending the Endeavor Games in Oklahoma City and questioning why Southern California had so few adaptive sports programs. The organization provides adaptive sports opportunities for people with physical disabilities and visual impairments, helping participants find equipment, coaching, and competitions. Its work addresses some of the barriers that can prevent people with disabilities from taking part in sports, while giving young athletes a chance to discover what they can do.

That mission has become even more visible as Frech takes on a challenge far removed from the track and field arena. In 2026, he joined Dancing With the Stars, partnering with professional dancer Daniella Karagach. The competition has introduced him to a broader audience while giving him another platform to challenge assumptions about disability. But adapting to ballroom dancing has required more than learning new steps. Frech and Karagach have had to adjust movements and choreography to account for his prosthetic, finding ways to make the routines work with his body and showcase their strengths as a team. 

For Frech, being visible matters because he remembers growing up without always seeing people like himself represented in mainstream entertainment. Now, he hopes that children watching him will see someone with a disability taking on a new challenge, competing, and enjoying the experience without having to hide the parts of himself that make him different.