09/03/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/03/2024 11:10
PARIS (Sept. 2, 2024) - For the first time in his Paralympic career, Ezra Frech is a Paralympic medalist, capturing the gold medal in the Men's Track 100m T63 event at the Paralympic Games Paris 2024. Frech posted his personal best time of 12.06 seconds in the final round on Monday.
"I'm quite shocked," Frech said. "I'm still taking it in right now. 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. I was treating this as a warm-up for high jump, to get the blood flowing and have a good race, then come back tomorrow and win high jump."
Frech made his Paralympic Games debut in Tokyo 2020 and arrived in Paris hungry to add a Paralympic medal to his name and bring home hardware for Team USA. The 19-year-old freshman at the University of Southern California set the world record for the T63 high jump on his way to qualifying for the Paris Games and finished fourth in the finals of the event on Sunday. He also set the world record of 1.95m in last year's World Para Athletics Championships, and won the long jump and high jump, along with placing second at the 2023 Paralympics Track & Field National Championships.
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About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 65 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 47 million cars and trucks at our 12 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota's 13th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 30 electrified options.
Through its Driving Possibilities initiative, the Toyota USA Foundation has committed to creating innovative educational programs within, and in partnership with, historically underserved and diverse communities near the company's U.S. operating sites.
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Sam Mahoney
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