The journey from one Paralympics to another isn’t easy.
That was especially true from Tokyo to Paris, with an atypical three-year gap between Games due to the COVID-19 pandemic pushing back the former.
But that wasn’t a problem for Ezra Frech.
The Team USA track and field star, at just 16 years old in 2021, finished fifth in the high jump T63 event with a personal best and eighth in the long jump T63 event. He took those moments and built upon them with an intense three-year training period to get ready for Paris in 2024.
While training, Frech had another job — executive producing the new Peacock docuseries “Adaptive.” The doc follows Frech and three other Paralympic athletes on their journey from Tokyo to Paris.
“It’s basically everything that a sports doc should be,” Frech explained in an interview with NBC. “It’s really raw, emotional, authentic. There’s lots of highs, lows, ups, downs, tears, laughter and, in my case, the peak of the peak — winning two Paralympic gold medals.
“It’s the behind-the-scenes of all that. So, if anyone wants to know what goes on behind the curtain in my life, ‘Adaptive’ is it.”
As he says, Frech was not only successful in making a great sports doc — he was also successful in his primary goal of becoming a Paralympic champion. The then-19-year-old from Los Angeles won gold in the 100m T63 and high jump T63.
“The way ‘Adaptive’ portrays me is a hyper-obsessive, competitive kid who will stop at nothing that’s in front of him to get to his goals,” Frech said.
U.S. Paralympic athlete Ezra Frech has made it his mission to share his inspirational story in hopes of normalizing disability. However, none of this would be possible if it weren’t for his mother, Bahar. Ezra opens up about how she shaped him into a confident teacher and helper.
“Adaptive” isn’t just about Frech, though. The series also follows swimmer Jamal Hill and wheelchair basketball players Courtney Ryan and Josie Aslakson.
All four athletes in “Adaptive” medaled in Paris, with Hill grabbing a bronze and Ryan and Aslakson taking home silvers.
“Jamal is one of the most talented swimmers in the world,” Frech said. “He is a star in the Paralympic space. He has a deep-rooted sense of advocacy in everything that he does. I might be biased, but he is a dang interesting character to watch.”
The two wheelchair basketball players were teammates, but each brought their own unique style and personality to the doc, French explained.
“Courtney is a very fiery, fiesty, amazing wheelchair basketball player on the women’s team who battles a lot of adversity and continues to persevere,” Frech said.
“… Jose is a sweet, beautiful, kind soul and she’s really talented,” Frech said. “Her story is amazing. Her and Courtney both coach at (University of Arizona), so they really care about the pipeline of women’s wheelchair basketball.”
“Adaptive” premiered July 28, exclusively on Peacock. All three episodes are available to stream now.
Three-time Paralympic medalist Trevon Jenifer previews the wheelchair basketball competition at the 2024 Paris Paralympics. Off the court, Jenifer is the face of Citi’s “What happened” advertising campaign.
