American Ezra Frech completes incredible Paralympic gold double

CNN —

American Ezra Frech completed a remarkable golden double on Tuesday at the Paris Paralympics after he won the men’s high jump by clearing a height of 1.94 meters, setting a new Paralympic record that was just shy of his own world record.

On Monday, the 19-year-old earned a dramatic gold in the men’s 100-meter T63 sprint – coming from behind to win in a photo finish to beat Denmark’s Daniel Wagner by just 0.02 seconds.

Frech was born with congenital limb differences and ran on his first blades aged four. The future star was soon playing soccer, basketball and running track, according to Olympics.com.

By age 11, after watching the Rio 2016 Paralympics, he vowed to his friends that he would make it to Tokyo 2020.

“Everyone said I was crazy,” he told Sports Illustrated ahead of the Games. “It was statistically unlikely. I mean, an 11-year-old saying he’s gonna make the Games in four years is utterly ridiculous.”

He made good on his promise, but didn’t place, finishing fifth in the T63 high jump and missing out on a medal.

In the high jump, Frech cleared a Paralympic record height of 1.9 meters.

“That is undoubtedly one of the most devastating moments of my entire life,” Frech said to SI about his experience in Tokyo. “It’s easy to fail in private. It’s hard to fail on the world stage where everyone sees it.”

Paris 2024 Paralympics — Athletics — Men's 100m — T63 Round 1 — Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France — September 1, 2024 Alessandro Ossola of Italy after proposing to his girlfriend after the race REUTERS/Eng Chin An

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After years of training, Frech surprised even himself by coming