How Ezra Frech’s Mission to Normalize Disability Is Changing the Face of Adaptive Athletics

Few people embody courage and vision quite like Ezra Frech. At just 20, this Paralympian is already a gold medalist, but his ambitions don’t stop at athletic glory. Ezra carries a mission bigger than any track or medal: to change how society understands and values disability. Meeting him, you’d never guess the incredible hurdles he’s overcome. Instead, you feel his grounded, passionate drive to break down barriers and inspire a movement—one that challenges every outdated assumption and lights the way for a more inclusive future.

"Having purpose and high ambition is what allows [me] to persevere through whatever obstacles, and so I have high ambitions of going down as the greatest Paralympian of all time, and I have purpose behind that," Frech says. "I want to rewire the way society sees disability. I want to normalize it. You put those two things together, it doesn't matter what's standing in front of me, I will run through it."

For many adaptive athletes, that mindset is all too familiar—the push to be recognized as athletes first, not just inspirational figures for doing everyday tasks. At the same time, they carry the heavy burden of making adaptive fitness more mainstream. It’s a lot to bear, and Ezra knows it well. But he refuses to let that slow him down.

“I want to be inspiring for my mindset, philosophy, athletic performance, and the things I talk about—not be inspiring for just having a physical disability…People used to tell me how inspirational it was just to see me carrying groceries. Now, they recognize me and say kind things, but before, I was inspiring just for existing." 

That distinction is central to his mission: to have athletes with disabilities seen first and foremost as athletes.

"That’s what we’re fighting against," he adds. "I hope we reach a point where disability isn’t seen as such a negative, and someone simply existing with a disability isn’t like this crazy hurrah celebratory moment." 

Frech doesn’t see his disability as something to overcome. Growing up, his mom told him to walk into every room with his chin up and chest out. More importantly, his disability shaped who he is—something he embraces fully.

"I was not treated any differently because I had a disability in my house," he said. "I was told to pursue whatever I wanted to pursue, play club basketball, do your thing, go snowboarding, whatever, and so I just grew up with this idea that my disability was not a hindrance, it was just something that made me who I am."

Changing perceptions starts with representation, and Frech understands this deeply. The Paralympics have long existed in the shadow of the so-called “main event,” treated like a separate category. But his goal is to blur those lines, sharing real stories and real victories that push adaptive fitness from the margins to the mainstream.

Through his advocacy, his docuseries Adaptive on Peacock, and his ongoing success in competition, he’s fighting to bring adaptive fitness into the spotlight, where it can inspire and empower everyone.

"I've always had this belief that if you expose the Olympics and the Paralympics to 100 people who have never seen it for the first time, there's an argument it [the Paralympics] makes more of an impact in that person's life than the Olympics," he says. "It's so foreign to most of society who think that people with disabilities can't do anything, and so I would say to the people, lean into the Paralympics."