In a sequence of events reminiscent of the men's 100m Olympic final that took place on the same track nearly one month ago, 19-year-old Ezra Frech claimed a Paralympic gold medal in the men's 100m T63 after an incredible come-from-behind charge and a lean at the line.
Frech was near the back of the pack as he came off the starting block, but the American displayed a burst of speed that caught him up to the leaders. As he leaned across the finish line, it was initially unclear who had won the race.
A brief wait ensued, and then Frech began celebrating upon learning that he had beaten Demark's Daniel Wagner to the line by just .02 seconds.
Brazil's Vinicius Goncalves Rodrigues earned the bronze medal behind Frech and Wagner.
Frech's time of 12.06 seconds was a personal best for him, and the result surprised even himself.
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"I'm quite shocked. I’m still taking it in right now," Frech said after the race. "I was definitely not expecting to go out there and win. I knew I could, but I have high jump tomorrow and that’s where my focus has been."
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Frech runs with a prosthetic on his left leg. He was born with congenital limb differences that led to the amputation of his left leg when he was 3 years old.
This was the first Paralympic medal of any color for Frech. He previously competed in high jump and long jump at the Tokyo Games.
On Saturday at the Paris Paralympics, Frech finished fifth in the long jump. He still has the high jump — an event in which he is the current world record holder and 2023 world champion — to come on Tuesday, Sept. 3.
Expect Frech to be hungry for gold in the high jump. After finishing fifth in that event in Paris, he saved a photo of the three medalists — along with the words "never again" — as the background of his phone screen and has said it will stay there as motivation throughout the rest of his career.
"I was treating [the 100m final] as a warm-up for high jump, to get the blood flowing and have a good race," he said, "then come back tomorrow and win high jump."
