SAINT-DENIS, France- After going home without a medal in his first Paralympic Games in Tokyo and finishing fifth in the long jump on Saturday, Ezra Frech can now finally call himself a Paralympic gold medalist.

The 19-year-old walked into the Stade de France Monday knowing he could win the T63 100 meter race, but not expecting to.

He said he was shocked at the results following the race when he saw that he had run a personal-best 12.06 seconds.

“Trust me – when you walk into a stadium of 70,000 people, people tense up,” Frech said. “Everyone chokes, they get nervous, they don’t know what to do. The lights are a little too bright, but the lights are never too bright for me.”

Primarily a jumper, Frech planned on using the 100 as a warmup for the T63 high jump final on Tuesday. But at the 50-meter mark, he realized he would actually win and flew across the finish line in a personal-best time.

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Frech still has his signature event in front of him − the T63 men’s high jump, slated for Tuesday at 2:20 p.m. EST. 

“This is a very special opportunity for Paralympic sports as a whole,” Frech said. “I think what these Games are doing for the movement is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The energy, the atmosphere remind me of London 2012 a lot. I look forward to riding this momentum into LA, but as of right now I’m happy with the gold, but I’m definitely not satisfied. I’m still hungry and tomorrow night I’ll get the gold in the high jump.”  

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