EZRA FRECH: "I Was Put on This Earth to Change the Way We See Disability"

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sorted has been living on that list state farm is there to help you choose the coverage that's right for you go online at statefarm.com or use the easily accessible app to get help from one of their over 19 000 local agents like a good neighbor state farm is there hey it's jay i don't know what your day's been like but i was just thinking about you for a minute and i hope you're being a little patient with yourself because you deserve it and yeah i'll talk to you soon hey everyone welcome back to on purpose the place you come to become happier healthier and more healed today's guest is two-time paralympic gold medalist and world record holder ezra freck he's one of the most exciting young athletes in the world a powerful voice for disability representation and he's already changing the way people see what's possible now you can see him taking on a completely new challenge on dancing with the stars if you haven't been watching already ezra freck welcome to on purpose wow thank you for having me i am so inspired by you honestly when i was preparing for this interview i was looking at what you've achieved in your life how you move through the world i've watched your interviews how you respond and react and not only are you so impressive with what you pull off you're so gracious and grateful and kind and i'm like wow this guy's you know they can make me blush thank you so much thank you for having me it is uh it is a real honor to be here we're going to get into some really deep stuff but i wanted to ask you like what is more pressure competing in the paralympics or doing the cha-cha in front of millions of people on dancing with the stars honestly my philosophy on pressure is that it doesn't even exist i feel like pressure is what is matthew mcconaughey saying the wolf was the wazzy it's a woozy it's a fairy dust it never existed it's almost like me admitting that there's pressure then convinces myself that that's a negative situation to be in when in reality i don't even see it as pressure i just see it as real beautiful opportunity competing at the paralympics that's competing in track and field i grew up doing that of course that's more comfortable dancing on live tv is way out of my comfort zone i have no dance experience i've never never done that before so that is more out of my comfort zone but i don't even see it as pressure i see it as just a lot of fun a beautiful opportunity to fulfill my purpose what i feel like i was put on this earth for and so all positivity because sometimes people say pressure or people say nerves they get stressed or they say fear and all of a sudden you're creating a motion in your body and you're more likely to feel that emotion when you say it like that so in my head it's like there's no pressure this is this is joy yeah well you see that you're crushing it on dancing with the stars have you watched it yeah i have been i have been it's amazing to watch have you been voting for me i haven't yeah i need to say okay i need to start voting for you i'm always catching up on the highlights so i'm always watching after the fact but uh not that you need my vote i think you're doing just fine but i'll jump in and vote for you thank you thank you but i wanted to go back to the beginning when you were born your parents were born and your parents were told that you were limb deficient and i find that fascinating that they saw that not as just information they received they decided to make it the purpose of why you existed walk me obviously you can't remember the moment you were born but talk to me about your earliest memories of learning that you were limb deficient it's a pretty crazy situation just based on the fact that they didn't know i was going to be born with a physical disability so i i was born and i had one finger a left leg that's curved up towards my waist my mom tells a story there was so many people in the delivery room my mom packed it with family and friends and my father started kicking people out of the room and my mom was like why is why is everyone getting kicked out of the room and it's because he was freaking out you know what what to do this child looked different and of course they didn't know if there was anything else wrong and they had to run a bunch of tests but once it was obviously just a physical disability my parents had this this moment where it was i think it was a few days after i was born and i was born and i had to run a bunch of tests and i had to run a bunch of tests and i had to run a bunch of tests and i had to run a bunch of tests and i was i was born my mother was on the phone with the friend and she was saying what an amazing mother my mom is going to be and how special this this this child is going to be and my mother said something along the lines of you know any mother would be so so loving to their child regardless of the circumstance and then she opens up the front page of the la times and right there there was an article about a trash scavenger in china who had adopted 43 children kids were found in the trash because they had some sort of difference missing limbs missing fingers cleft palate those were kids that were left in the trash to die that were born just like the baby she had just given birth to on a global level difference is something that people are afraid of disability is something that people are afraid of and my parents were huge environmental advocates my father worked for the epa they basically decided at this moment that purpose was going to be shifted to this contingent of the population that didn't have any advocates that had nobody speaking up those kids around the world born different even in america people with differences didn't have advocates in that way and their life mission shifted from that point and so i feel like i was born into a home filled with a deep sense of purpose about what i was put on this earth to do and uh i feel that coursing through my veins i was lucky enough to just meet your mom too she's here with you yes she has the most wonderful energy thank you i was honored actually to meet her because when i was studying your story obviously she's been such a pivotal person in your life and just seeing the relationship you both have you know after all these years from that moment when she made that commitment and oriented your purpose in that way and now you're like living and breathing it well it's because of them right it's because of my parents i can't imagine how scary it is to have your friends and your family and your family and your family and your family and your family and your first child be born with a limb difference you don't know what to expect you don't know what life is going to look like for this child and especially at a time where you don't see a lot of disability representation there you're not turning on the tv screen at the time and seeing so many people with disabilities and so what to expect from life when you have a child with a disability that can be daunting and that can be scary so i'm i am beyond grateful for the way that they raised me but yeah you're absolutely right props to my parents they're the best instagram teen accounts come with automatic protections that limit who can contact teens the content they can see and the time they spend on the app learn more about teen accounts and instagram's ongoing work to protect teens online at instagram.com forward slash teen accounts for someone who doesn't understand your condition or doesn't understand what limb deficiency is can you explain what you were born with and what you had to go through in order to be at this position i had one finger on my left hand and i was like oh my god i'm gonna die i'm gonna die i'm gonna die and i had a lower left leg that was curved up towards my waist and i had a surgery at about three years old which was a whole it's for almost for a whole other time like to go through the decision making that my parents had to figure out of we're gonna amputate our child's leg and take the big toe that was formerly from the foot and put it on my left hand in order to create more mobility because if i were to grow and that leg would continue to grow upwards i would have very little mobility so amputating it right at the knee and then they took the big toe and they put it onto my left hand so when i'm three years old my parents are making a life-altering decision which thank god they made decision. I would be nowhere near as mobile as I am today, but it basically allowed me to have a stump that could fit into a prosthetic. And then I got a second finger so I could pick things up. I could hold things. And if you think about it, like a little kid, if they're holding toys, as for me, I was holding it against my chest because I didn't have opposition. I got that second finger. I could pick things up. I could hold things. So transformed my hand functionality on my left hand. And then it allowed my mobility from my prosthetic side to be way, way better. I get chills thinking about it right now, but it's so scary to think that you're making a decision for your child that's going to forever impact the way they move through the world. And they made the right decision 100%. But there was a lot of emotional turmoil when you're amputating your child's leg and transplanting a toe to the hand. And the surgery itself was crazy. 15 hours under a microscope, connecting nerves and tendons and arteries smaller than the width of a hair. There was a point actually, and it's so crazy to think about, but we spent a lot of time trying to get the toe to attach. And one of the ways that you can tell if the body has accepted this finger is if it wrinkles in the bath. And so months later after the surgery, we've done all the right things. I've been doing PT, OT, and I was in the bath for a long time. And my thumb wrinkled for the first time as a sign that my body had officially accepted that. And I was in the bath for a long time. And it's really beautiful how you honor your parents, but you had to do that, too. I might as well just make the most out of my life not wallow in the pity wallow in the sadness and flip it and be like i'm just gonna own my life i'm gonna pursue the things i want to pursue and accept who i am but there it was a transition i've never even said this but there's i accepted my missing of a leg sooner than i accepted my left hand i was more comfortable accepting my prosthetic the fact that i'm missing the leg and feeling confident comfortable in it than my left hand like there was points even middle school early high school where i would hide my left hand naturally just naturally put it behind my back or naturally stand in certain ways and that was not that long ago but and i've actually never said that publicly but there's a process to acceptance it's not a single moment and i accepted my prosthetic and thought it felt like it was a process to acceptance and i accepted my prosthetic and thought it felt like cooler but never understood the importance and of accepting my hand as well it wasn't like one moment i it was a gradual process and i accepted different parts of my disability at different points why do you think that was for you what was it about your hand it's probably because my prosthetic i felt looked cool right and i didn't feel like my left hand did and it was shorter and looks so different and also it comes from reactions like moments even with girls as a young kid where this is so random but i can't believe i'm thinking of this but like one time i put my arm around some girl that i liked and and she went told everybody like ezra put ezra put his creepy hand around me like little things like that when you're young in middle school that change your perception of yourself in some ways and so i definitely accepted my prosthetic side sooner than i accepted my my hand because also like a prosthetic it could be class it's like cool it's unique it's like a piece of technology and my left hand like i don't know it didn't have that same type of appeal in my head yeah i'm sorry you have to go through that i mean yeah that's the worst thing it's i've never spoken about you know this is like therapy i've never even said that story ever in my life but it's those little things that you don't think about that when we have a conversation like this like oh that happened and that that might be why i felt like this it's crazy to you know piece it together backwards almost now that i understand your reasoning i'm like it's very natural why you would think that and why it's taken longer for you to accept your hand versus your leg i love what you said about this idea of like it's not like overnight it's not like one day you wake up and all of a sudden you go oh i'm good with it now like i get it like it makes sense like what were the steps in learning to accept your hand from that moment you hear such a hurtful thing from a girl that you you know for any of us any to the fact that when you like a girl in middle school and you put your arm around and to hear that to go from that to now being at a point when you said because of this hand i can dance with my partner on dancing with the stars that you said that with so much confidence talk to me about the steps between that moment and this to accept that because it's putting your hammer on someone every guy knows you you take a risk in any way with a girl if anything goes wrong it hurts so much more the capabilities to accept myself it was baked into me from the love for my parents i i knew the pathway i knew how to get there i knew the path to walk down it was about letting go and walking down that path and part of it just comes i think with time like in middle school everybody's insecure in early high school everybody's insecure part of it honestly was having successful relationships with women that saw me for who i was beyond like some physical difference and particularly with my left hand so i had some healing experiences with girls post that one incident that definitely helped progress towards a point of acceptance but i had the framework it was there and oftentimes we know how to get to a certain point but it's actually taking the steps to get there that is the challenging part yeah because you have to take a risk and you have to do something that's uncomfortable oftentimes it's easier to just sit in our own thoughts and sit in our insecurity as opposed to break free from that and in this case once again i felt like i had the framework it was there and the confidence in who i was was baked into me and this was just that that final piece of the puzzle that i needed to push through and came with time came with healing experiences with other girls and came with me just maturing a little bit and the combination of that and then eventually like now our first dance on dancing with the stars the first time the camera even pans to me is i point my left hand out to camera and that's what danny my partner grabs that's our first dance the main section of it i was leading entirely with my left hand and my left leg because in ballroom and in tango that's what you what you lead with is that left side so a full 180 but also a reminder that acceptance doesn't come in one specific moment and it's a process it's an evolution and this is the first time i'm really looking back and piecing it all together but it was probably a combination of those things it's knowing that you actually had to do more uncomfortable things it was like you go through this discomfort and actually the only thing that could heal your feeling of it was to go into that discomfort even more even more even more which is so hard to do when you're already dealing with that much stress fear it's the last thing you want it's a last thing you want to do exactly well said yeah it's the last thing you want to do and but you're saying that's the thing that worked ezra for you i mean despite everything your mom and dad did for you i read that mom and dad were not your first words it was ball so i was like you've been talking yeah i love my parents my first word was ball yeah exactly i was like when i read that i was cracking up especially now where i see how much you love your parents and how amazing they are obviously but mom and dad didn't make it it was ball you said something to me that that really resonated before we started recording and you were saying that you know actually when someone gets a disability or has a limb deficiency sport is the last thing that they're trained to think about or that becomes a possibility for them how did sports become such a big part of your life that young society almost tells you if you have a physical disability sports is not for you there's no systems set up for recreational sport even high school sport collegiate sport at the same level anywhere near what it is for the average middle schooler or high schooler and they're not going to be able to do that because they're not going to if you're in a wheelchair you can't just roll up to the ymca and jump in a wheelchair basketball game you need specific chair specific game setup there's all these barriers to entry for the community to participate in sport and honestly it was the way not to not to go back on my parents but it was the way my parents raised me i there was never any limitations and naturally literally i just loved sport i loved basketball as a young kid my first word was ball i was a diehard lakers fan i watched every single game i actually even learned to count by twos before i learned how to count by ones because i watched so many laker games over and over and over and so something in my soul felt like i connected to sport and the unfortunate thing is if there was another child who had maybe a more severe disability than myself they wouldn't be able to just jump in and play sports with their friends the way i was it was because i was an amputee and and the disability isn't as severe i was able to play with my friends and also even the ones that do integrate still face massive massive discrimination and when we talk about disability it is such a large percentage of the population i don't even think people really understand this is 15 of the world population that lives with the physical disability that's 50 million americans that's a billion people globally and for context cognitive disability intellectual impairment is about two to three percent and physical disability is 15 percent so some reports have it up at 20 percent it's such a large minority group but then where is the access to basic sport and most people with disabilities actually acquire their disability a small percentage are born with a disability like myself most people acquire it through diseases cancer diabetes stroke accidents car boating accidents whatever it might be disability really doesn't discriminate it doesn't care if you're young old white black disability doesn't care if you're rich it doesn't care if you're poor it is the minority group that anyone could be a part of it at any time and so it's crazy to think that if someone acquires a disability the reality is they think their ability to live an active healthy lifestyle is over and that is so far from the truth it's always so uncomfortable when you know you realize just how unless you've had a friend with a disability or a family member you don't actually understand you don't how much there is lack of access or what kind of mindsets or aspiration society places on a community or when you just reeled off those statistics like i don't think i even knew this right and i feel terrible saying that but it's i feel so uneducated saying that but it just shows how much of a need there is for us to have these conversations and for us to talk about these absolutely and that's why a representation is so important because not everyone is going to have a close family member that has a disability that they're able to understand their experiences but But on a macro level, how do you change society. You change society by touching culture. And there's moments in sport where sport can be that catalyst, can be the thing that transcends, touches culture, changes the way we think about something like Billie Jean King beating Bobby Riggs, changing the way the world views women's tennis. Nelson Mandela using rugby to unify a country. Jackie Robinson, right, playing in the MLB. There's moments in time where sport transcends the movement it resides in and changes the way we think about something. And so that's why I think we have that similar opportunity in 2028 when the Paralympics come to Los Angeles as our chance to change the way America and the world views disability through sport. But even from a representation standpoint, it is the honor of a lifetime to be on a show like Dancing with the Stars, where kids with disabilities, people with disabilities, and people with disabilities are able to be on a show like Dancing with the Stars. All over the country can turn on the TV screen and see somebody like themselves. That's so powerful. There was not that many people in the mainstream media with a physical disability when I was a young kid I could look to and be inspired by. There was a few, and they were actually on Dancing with the Stars. Dancing with the Stars has a great history of disability representation, which is so grateful to be able to continue that. But that's so important. I want to be that person for the next generation. I want to be that person for people with disabilities to know that there's somebody like me on the TV screen. Because representation is so powerful for every other minority group. Disability is the last frontier. It's lagged behind. And I don't know why, but it's my mission to accelerate that. I'm so excited to see what you go on to do from this standpoint, from sports, entertainment, being an advocate for this space. Why do you think it is, though? When you put it that way, that it's the last frontier, it's such a large. minority, you know? And it's not had that representation. What do you think that is? Like, what's happening? Honestly, I think it's because people are afraid of it. Disability is taboo. People don't know what to say. They don't want to say the wrong thing. They end up not saying anything at all. And that is so counterproductive. We need the conversation. We need people to approach it with good intentions. Maybe they get the language 5% off, but if they're approaching it with good intentions, and we're sparking conversation, that's so important. And for some reason, disability is seen as a super negative thing. There's places all over the world where people with disabilities are seen as cursed. They're seen as less than. They're left to be beggars in the streets. Of course, that's not the same way in America, but still, people with disabilities are bullied in higher rates, less physically active, less job opportunities, depressed in higher rates. This is a percentage of the population. It doesn't feel properly included in society almost. And so how do we change that at a macro level? I don't know, but representation, growth of the Paralympics, seeing people with disabilities do things changes the way you perceive disability. But I mean, I talk to kids with disabilities all the time. They're all bullied in school. It should not be that way. I was about to say, if anyone wants to see anything, you just got to watch one of your high jump videos. I appreciate that. And that's the thing is like social media is a very, it can be superficial, of course, but the way I think of social media and anything that we pursue or go after is like every like, every view, every comment, that's someone where disability is hopefully slightly more normalized in their eyes. And if you do that enough on a large enough scale, that's real change. I was going to ask you two things. Because I really want to get into the Paralympics in a moment and more in Dancing with the Stars, but two things that I wanted to ask you about there. You said you were a huge Lakers fan, and I heard that you're a big Gasol fan. And I think you even met him when you were like, really young. Yeah, Pau Gasol. On Good Morning America, was it? My brother. I was a diehard Lakers fan growing up, like you said. And at four years old, Good Morning America did this segment on me because I would talk to people who were like, go to schools and talk about disability when I was a young kid. And they surprised me with tickets to a Laker game. And then surprised me backstage, I got to meet Pau. He's my hero, my idol. I used to make my mom draw a mascara beard so I could go to preschool because I loved Pau that much. And he was at the height of his career. He just won two championships. And he met this four-year-old kid with a disability who loved him. And we became so, so close. We would have dinner together, go over to each other's houses. He'd come over to my house, hang out with my grandma, my grandpa, my brothers. I mean, he became like a mentor, older brother figure for me. He's one of the best basketball players in the world. And a four-year-old kid with a disability. And we became so close. He literally took me under his wing. And then eventually when my career started taking off athletically, he is somebody I am still close to to this day. I go to for advice. He's done it. He's created a beautiful life of sport and career and impact that I hope to emulate. So he is always big bro to me, but we met literally good morning, America, surprising me getting to meet my idol. That's incredible. What have you learned from him over the years? Or what's the one thing that he's taught you over the years that stands out that's really resonated with you? He is the perfect example of using your platform in the right way. He uses the to create real impact. There aren't that many athletes at that level that have created such a life of impact and purpose like pow. Of course, mine is in a, in a different lane for the disabled community, but the way that he approaches business, the way that he approaches his career, the way that he approaches his impact strategy is so thoughtful and so aligned with him that I hope to embody that energy and hopefully literally have a similar type of career. I think that's in that sense and, and, and emulate the way he's been able to create such a positive impact. Like Pau Gasol has a massive net impact on society as a whole, separate from his basketball career. This episode is brought to you by Apple watch. If you're like me constantly trying to better understand your body, you should check out the new Apple watch series 12. The vitals app puts your key daytime and overnight health metrics right on your wrist, including HRV, which is heart rate variability, a signal of how your body's handling stress and bouncing back from it. And it's now backed by the most accurate heart rate sensing in a wearable. So you can trust what it's telling you visit apple.com forward slash Apple watch series 12 to learn more iPhone 11 or later required. The vitals app is for wellness purposes only, and not for medical use heart rate accuracy based on Apple conducted study, August, 2026, visit apple.com forward slash HR accuracy. This episode is brought to you by chase Sapphire reserve. 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You'll also get a chance to learn more about faculty with real world experience and have support start to finish Walden university set a course for change. Ready to start visit Walden you.edu today certified to operate by chef tempo learning available in select programs. This episode is sponsored by better help. There are plenty of reasons we put off getting support. And for a lot of people cost is one of them with better help. So if you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments. And if you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments. And while we're reconsidering old assumptions, maybe there are a few others worth questioning too, like how women are supposed to be more nurturing, but no one likes to be put in a box, right? With therapy, unpack all these expectations you might force upon yourself. 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And he sent a really sweet message to me and it honestly made me feel a lot better and put things in perspective and just reminded me of all of the stuff that he's had to go through throughout his career and the type of human being and athlete and purpose-driven individual that he is. I dream of modeling my career after him as well in many ways, just from that standpoint. So sometimes when you're in those low moments, hearing from someone that you respect and look up to, that you admire so much like him, it wakes you up, snaps you out of your spell, you could say. So that's what he did for me. Was there anything that he said specifically that resonated? It was just something along the lines of like, you know, keep your head up champ. These things happen. There's always highs and lows. I know you'll bounce back stronger than ever. You're an amazing, well, like it was, it was one of those. And I was just like, man, that's really meaningful. I was like, if Novak thinks that, I mean, I can think that of myself. Sometimes other people's confidence, especially someone like him can remind you who you are and give you that fuel. And that's what it did for me. Was there a reason you think you're, because I imagine your approach and everything was similar. Was there a reason why you think you lost your world title? We released a documentary actually on Peacock. It's called Adaptive. It was three episodes, 45 minutes, still on the platform. So if anyone wants to know me, know me really well, you can watch that. But we, we released that right before the world championships. And I had to go on like a whole press tour. So training was a little bit more inconsistent. And of course that's a once in a lifetime opportunity to get to release a documentary. I had, I had to go for it and I ended up getting injured throughout that process because I wasn't able to have that same type of recovery and rest and that I usually have. So I hurt my back and I wasn't able to train for on the track a month into the world championships. And I had the opportunity to pull out and I thought about it. And I said, I could go there and there's a chance I lose, or I could pull out just because I'm injured. And the real competitor in me was like, I will never back down. If there's even a 1% chance I can go out there and win, I'm going to go for it. And so sure enough, didn't go my way. I got silver and lost to one of my biggest competitors, but still don't regret it whatsoever. I get not that many opportunities. Throughout my career to compete at a world championships. It doesn't matter if I'm injured. It doesn't matter if I'm in crazy pain, I'm going to go out there. I'm going to give it my all. And, and I walked away with the silver medal. Like it sucks, but I was proud of the way I fought. When I hear you speak, you're so confident. I wanted to ask you, how do you define confidence? I define confidence as a relationship with yourself. It comes and goes at times, but at the core of it, it's my relationship with myself. If I say something, my word, I must stick to it. And if I say I'm going to sleep at this time, I sleep at that time. If I say I'm going to do something, I do it. I really, I really value the power of the spoken word. I had a dear friend of mine tell me that words are spells that couldn't be more true. As in what you say manifests in your body manifests in your mind. And so the relationship you have with yourself is, is the most important relationship you'll ever have. I do my absolute best to speak to myself positively, keep positive intentions. But then also when I say something, when I believe something, commit to it. And so if I say, for example, I'm not eating sugar until after the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympics, that means I won't have even one bite of cake that's not sugar-free. That means if I say, I'm not going to have any alcohol until after the, that means I won't have anything. Because I know one beer, I know that one bite of cake isn't actually making that big of a difference physically, but it's actually for my confidence. It's actually my relationship with myself. I want to be able to tell myself something and commit to it. And you do that over a long enough period of time, you're proving to yourself that you are who you say you are. And it doesn't have to be big things like that. These are little things. I'm going to work out, after lunch. If you don't work out after lunch, then the next time you say that your brain's not even believing yourself. And so you continue to stack these little wins and little wins. And eventually you build yourself into the type of person that when I say something, I do that thing. And if I'm not going to do it, I don't say it. Are you actually doing those things that you just said? Yeah, I am doing those things. So no sugar or alcohol until after the 2028 Paralympics. Yeah. So usually I would do no sugar in the, in the, during the track season. And then after season, I would eat like crazy. And after the last Paralympics, I said, I have to, I have to one up myself. I have to do something even greater. I have a hometown Paralympics coming. I was like, all right, no, no added sugar for the next four years. I have natural sugars, fruit and honey and stuff, but I won't have any, any junk food, any cake, any candies that have, that have added sugar. And I know it doesn't make a difference. If I have one piece of candy, my grandma's always like one bite of the cake, please. I'm like, I'm like, Mimi, I, you know, me, I can't, if I have one, it makes the second one easier. I've broken that relationship with myself and granted everybody's different. Not everyone's confidence should come from them not eating sugar for four years, but rather that, that confidence should come from what you commit to yourself and making sure you follow through on that. Cause once you do that enough, then the next time you say something, you know, you're going to do it. And that's powerful. Yeah. You learn to trust yourself. Absolutely. Yeah. You're making me feel really bad now. Cause I, I do six days of no refined sugar a week, but I eat on one day a week. But here's the thing. Some people need that in moderation. Thanks for making me feel better. It's true though. It's true. Everyone's wired differently. Some people need that. And granted, if your career was directly dependent on you, not eating sugar, you would make that sacrifice as an athlete. My career is partially dependent on health and fitness. And so me not eating sugar, impacts my career. If it was the same for you, I, I guarantee you'd be in the same boat. You'd be like, all right, no sugar at all. I love your mindset though. Like when I hear you speak and it's, it's what you'd expect. You have this elite athlete mindset. I want you to speak to me about that mindset and what it's taken to build that trust in yourself and that commitment to your craft because you have it. You're 21 years old. You've already achieved so much, but I can feel it. Like even just, you know, being in front of you, you can always tell when you're in front of an elite athlete. It's a different energy. I've had the fortune of being in front of an elite athlete and I've had the fortune of sitting with so many. And when you're, when you're in the presence of one, you can tell it's just, it's a different ball game. It's, it's a fascinating thing to experience. Talk to me about how have you built that mindset? Because you've not only had to build the mindset you've had to build from a more difficult starting point and then build that mindset on top of it. I think it's a combination of a couple of things. I think my disability has always given me a chip on my shoulder. I was always doubted. I was always underestimated everywhere I went. And that fueled me to want to prove people wrong. So growing up, we would be playing basketball games and the coach of the other team would be like, all right guys, take it easy on this kid for the first five minutes of the game. And then after I've scored a bunch of baskets, he's like, Oh no, no play defense now. And that's just how it's always been in sport. That always motivated me. Doubt fueled me, fueled me. And then the same way, I have a very different mindset. I have a very different mindset. I have a very different personality. I'm very addictive personality. I'm very black and white. I do things 100% or I don't do them at all. I feel like I've found my purpose, my calling, which is, I feel like I was put on this earth to change the way we see disability, to normalize disability and track and field is a part of that and wanting to use the Paralympics to accomplish that larger vision. And so I feel this deep backing, this, this deep connectivity to what I was put on this earth. And I feel like I was put on this earth to do. And you couple that with a love for the sport, a chip on your shoulder and addictive personality. And I'm all in and I eat, sleep and breathe this. I spend all day thinking about it. I dream one day of going down as, as one of the greatest Paralympians of all time. That's, that's my goal. I learn as much as I can from the goats, from the Kobe Bryants, from the Djokovic's, from the Pau Gasol's, from the Michael Jordan's, the Michael Phelps, I want to take as much of that as possible, apply it in my own way. But that mentality of just being all in, it's kind of the way I've always been. For example, when I was 11 years old, I was playing a bunch of different sports at the time. And I was on my living room couch and I was watching the Rio 2016 Paralympics. And I had this moment where it was like the universe was telling me, this is your calling. I was watching the Paralympics, once again, the power of representation. This is what I'm meant to do with my life. I'm going to be a Paralympian. I dropped all my other sports. I told all my family and friends, I'm going to make the Tokyo Paralympics. And I was 11. The odds that in four years I go make the games are remarkably low. I wasn't even, I was unranked. I didn't even have a coach, but we built a great team around myself. I sacrificed absolutely everything to make it happen. And there began my track and field career. And so my mentality is always, I might not be the most genetically gifted. I might not be the most talented, but I will out-sacrifice and outwork every single one of you. one of my competitors and that's always been my mentality probably stems from that chip on my shoulder as a young kid from that that addictive personality but really it's that purpose-backed mission that gives me the fuel to get up every morning to sacrifice the sugar to sacrifice the alcohol to do whatever it takes to accomplish my goal talk to me about that 11 year old you watching the paralympics making that decision i'm gonna qualify to qualifying for your first paralympics walk me through the training yeah what that required and then what that feeling was like to qualify for your first ever paralympics i think i had to improve two feet or something in the high jump i'd improve i calculated roughly that's a lot right that's a lot that's a lot two feet is two feet is a lot yeah i calculated i needed to roughly improve that much if i wanted even a chance and i was like i'm gonna do it and i actually remember this i looked at my mom i was in the doorway and she looked at me she was like hell yeah and i was like i can do this and then sure enough we found a great coach we started to piece together a team i but i mean i literally even before you found the coach i was watching youtube videos all day jump running jumping in the backyard i would i was setting up my brothers they had like these water tables i would like stack water tables in the backyard jump over them jump over them i'm getting up at 6 a.m. before school and doing workouts that i literally watched on youtube i didn't even know what i was doing but i'm going out there and just training and training i begged my parents to take me to track every day after school training training training i just went crazy it was all in and and then eventually after a few months of just chaos training i started to piece together a team and i had a great coach and and put the the puzzle pieces together and then in 2019 which was three years later i had five track meets to hit the national team standard and that standard was going to qualify me for junior world championships the para pan am games and world championships that was like me getting the opportunity to make the national team and i didn't get it at the first four track meets and i i was capable of clearing this bar and the last track meet was my own competition my own non-profit we had a track meet and all my family and friends were there and i was there it was the last opportunity and i finally got it and i made the national team for the first time i was 14 i was the youngest on the team by a lot and it was the best moment ever and then from that point forward it looked like making the games was going to be a real possibility and so that was 2019 we ended up then because the pandemic the games got pushed back a year so i even had more time to improve and then actually qualifying for the tokyo games wasn't as satisfying as it should have been because when i got that extra year i said now if i qualify it doesn't i need a medal now i got an extra year the goal has to change i set the bar even higher so qualifying was was beautiful but probably not as satisfying as it should have been because my head was already thinking about the next thing which is my biggest fault is that i i never appreciate things because i'm always thinking about the next thing is that a fault or a strength when it comes to what you do up for interpretation my mother would say it's a fault but i would say it's a strength yeah i think as an athlete it's a strength as an athlete i'm never satisfied i can live in gratitude and also really be because i i always am trying to be in at a place of gratitude but i can be grateful and also really ambitious and hungry for more always so you're right it depends on who you are yeah but for the record i agree with your mom she's done she's got everything right yeah i'm not about to debate with your mom she's she's nailed it so who am i to who am i to say anything to her i've been fortunate enough to to watch certain sports in the paralympics previously i've watched you a ton as a as before you're coming on the show and i'm i'm blown away by what's possible like i it is like remarkable to watch but for anyone who doesn't know about the paralympics what are the key differences between the olympics and the paralympics and yeah what are the differences in the in the competitions in the athletes like what are you seeing for someone who may be less less aware absolutely because by the way people just are naturally confused i get called an olympian all the time and they don't mean it in a negative way but i'm i'm not i'm a paralympian and so the main differences are this paralympics is the highest level sport and competition on the planet for people with physical disabilities it happens two weeks after the olympics it happens in the same cities same venues same organizing committees granted the ipc the international paralympic committee and the ioc international olympic committee they're sister organizations they're not the exact same but the sports are very similar paralympic sports or sometimes called adaptive sports they're adapted in some way for example wheelchair basketball it's a game of basketball but they're just in wheelchairs and you get two pushes and you have to dribble wheelchair tennis you get two bounces to hit the ball track and field i run with a running blade but i'm running the 100 meter and high jumping the same and so the paralympics is highly competitive some people get it confused with special olympics special olympics is an amazing organization and they do programming for people with cognitive impairments so any person with a cognitive impairment could be a special olympian it's not the paralympics is highly exclusive and it's for the best athletes on the planet with the physical disability representing their country and once again from even from a population standpoint special olympics serves two to three percent that live with a physical disability with a cognitive impairment paralympics is obviously 15 with the physical disability but in the paralympics there are classifications for each sport and this is something that people get confused by but basically it's a system of fairness the same way in boxing or ufc you have weight classes you're not going to have a 145 guy fight a guy that's 205 that'd be so unfair in the paralympics you have that for disability so you compete against people with the same or similar disability as in i as an amputee i'm not going to run against a dude that's just missing his arm he would destroy me he has two legs he would beat me i only run against people that are also an above the knee amputee yeah watching that video of you win go watch it online but it's it's phenomenal to see you like pick up speed like talk to us about that idea because i think for those of us who don't understand what it feels like to have a prosthetic leg you have to pick up speed in a different way you're absolutely right so with a running blade the start is the hardest part of the race because you're unable to hit the right positions and the blade hasn't really kicked in and so only at about 30 40 maybe even 50 meters are you really hitting top speed that's why the paralympic times are slower compared to the able-bodied times but really if you took the top speed of my race versus the top speed of an able-bodied sprint you're going to hit the top speed of an able-bodied sprint you're going to hit the top speed of an able-bodied sprint it wouldn't be as different compared to like the times that we're running the times seem way far apart but the top speeds are closer than people think wow of course still slower because we're missing a leg but less less difference yeah in in the race in paris i mean there's so much to go into just around that the whole experience in paris as a whole but yeah that that race was was crazy and and you watch like everyone picks up speed like everyone everyone in the races is building i'm like you pick up speed i'm like you pick up speed i'm like you pick up speed just a little a smidge more speed than than but it was it was it was a crazy race yeah it's insane we'll get to that i want to go back to tokyo you come out fifth right in tokyo and you take a picture of the athletes on the podium and you make it your phone wallpaper and you're like never again yeah like walk me through that decision i'm an ultra competitor i love it so i see we got that extra year and i'm like i'm going to do it again i'm going to do it again i'm going to do it again for the tokyo games and in my head i thought i can't have the same goal i got an extra year i got i have to medal that was the goal and honestly i came into the tokyo games in a pretty good position to make that happen it was definitely possible unlikely but it was possible and that's all i needed young obviously i was 16 i was super young all the guys were 25 older grown men this is what they do for a living i got really close to the podium the bronze medal bar i was soaring over the bar and my blade skinned me i was soaring over the bar and my blade skinned me i was soaring i landed on the mat i jump up i didn't even feel it i thought i cleared the bar i jump up to celebrate and the bar was down and i was just devastated devastated felt like i let my family my friends felt like i let my country it was it was painful but i remember as every other athlete left it was pouring rain i stayed on the track and was just walking around and taking these mental i was just walking around and taking these mental and i remember sitting there looking at them and thinking to myself never again never again will i walk away from a major championships without a medal until the day i retire that was my vow and i went back to my room and was really going through it at the paralympic village obviously the only person that was there was my father my whole family wasn't able to come because of the pandemic and i was really struggling i refound a quote which is the theater roosevelt quote man in the arena it is not the critic who counts not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs, who comes short again and again, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best in the end knows the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. I love that quote. I love it too. I love that quote. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It just took me back. It just gives me chills every time I hear it. So that his place shall never be, that was the line that hit me, at least if he fails, he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. And as I read that again, I was thinking, I dared greatly. I'm proud of that. I put my all into this. I left no stone unturned. At least my place isn't with those cold and timid souls who never took a risk, who never put themselves out there, who never went after their dreams. I did. And so I set the lock screen of my phone as that photo that I watched the medalists take with the words never again, so that every time I opened up my phone, I would see that and I'd be reminded, I got to get this one back. So after a couple years later, I won my first world and then the media wrote, they're like, are you going to change your lock screen? Are you going to change your lock screen now? And I was like, no, I'm not. I'm going to keep it. And then over the years, every time I've lost, every time I've had moments like I've added to it. So now I've got a bunch more photos added to the lock screen. And it's going to be a collage of things that motivate me, moments that motivate me, my failures. I think failure is the ultimate motivator. Nowadays, we open up our phone all the time. I open up my phone. Every time I see that, I'm reminded of these moments that have fueled me to become the person I am. That moment when you get up to celebrate, but then realize the pole's down and that your blade had just. Talk to me about moments like that as an athlete, because you've trained for years and years, months, weeks, and that probably has never happened in training. Or if it happened, happened a couple of times, but you felt really good. And then you get to the real thing. And then that happens. Talk to me about just that split moment in time where. That's what makes it beautiful. That's what makes sport beautiful. That's what makes the Paralympics, the Olympics special, is how finite it is. We trained four years. That 100-meter race is 11 seconds. I get one shot. That's what makes those moments so special. I understand the beauty in failure. I understand and appreciate the beauty in those moments that are so scarce and rare. And it makes us appreciate them so much more. And so moving forward from that point, I always tell myself now when I compete, be present. Be here. This is not even for sport. This is in life, an important meeting, an important call. There's moments that are really important to us that we make really big in our heads. And then when we get there, the moment passes us by. And my philosophy is always, I want to be as present as possible in those moments. Because that's what flow state is. People are like, oh, I found my flow state. I think flow state is presence. It's being so, there. It almost felt like that moment passed me by. It just happened. And I was a bystander. I'd never want to be a bystander in my own life, especially in moments that matter that much. I want to be there. I want to be the one in control. And so now, any track meet, any competition, I'm telling myself, let me be right here. Dancing on Dancing with the Stars, that was literally my mentality these first few weeks is every time I step into the ballroom, let me be here. Let me be present. This is finite. Let me enjoy it. In the buildup to the Paris Games, you were so focused on self-talk, manifestation, meditation, and we're hearing parts of your self-talk throughout this whole interview. I feel like there's moments where you lock in. I'm like, oh, this is how he talks to himself. Talk to me about what role each of those play. So let's start with manifestation. What does manifestation mean to you? How do you manifest? Manifestation is really important to me. I think that nobody stumbles upon greatness. You believe you're capable of that thing first, and then you become it. My manifestation, once again, it came from that confidence building that my parents instilled in me, but I take it really seriously. I, for years and years in the lead up to the Paris Paralympics, vocalized, I was going to win the gold. And I had a very, very detailed, and not to jump the gun, but my manifestation and meditation are kind of connected. So every morning I would do an in-detail meditation visualization where I would walk myself through every single detail of what my competition was going to look like. I would visualize everything from where the high jump pit would be, the color of the mat, where my family would be in the stands, what time of day, the temperature, the smell, what jersey I'd be wearing, heights I would come in at, what color jersey my competitors would have, what facial hair they would have, the smallest, most intricate details. And I would live that experience in my head every morning. This was a part of basically getting my body and my nervous system prepared for that moment. And so part of that was the manifestation. I would take myself through the act of winning every morning. I would wake up every morning sobbing because in my head, I had just won Paralympic gold. And I did that every morning for years and years and years. Everything that I would do throughout the day, I would tell myself, this is what the Paralympic champion does. I'm the Paralympic champion. Getting groceries, this is what the Paralympic champion does. I began to convince myself entirely that I was the Paralympic champion. And what does that person do when they go and compete? They win. They go out there and win the gold medal. This was a long, long process. I mean, I said it in every single interview for three to four years, guaranteeing that I was going to win the gold. I personally shook the hands of probably thousands of people and promised them that I was going to win on social media. I actually did a 100-day countdown where I made a video every single day for a hundred days saying today is day X out of 100 until I win Paralympic gold. Everyone told me I was crazy. Everybody said, you're putting too much pressure on yourself. Everyone was so concerned. What if he doesn't do it? But there was no fear. I will never not vocalize my goals out of fear of not accomplishing them. I was so open because I knew what I was willing to do to get there and how much I was willing to sacrifice. And I needed to convince myself of it first. And so all that to say, when I walk out on the track at the Paris Paralympics and everything is just as I visualized it, I got deja vu. I had lived that moment in my head. I had lived that moment in my head so many times that it felt like home. And so granted, did the height that I ended up clearing be a few centimeters higher? Sure. Was the high jump mat perfectly in this? No, but the energy, the experience, my senses, my nervous system was not stressed. I was at peace. And the cool thing is anyone listening can apply this to any situation. You have a meeting with your boss that you're really worried and stressed about. Take some time and meditate on it. Visualize it. Think about the different ways the conversation could go. Visualize your reactions, what you might say, what things might come up. Prepare yourself mentally for it. Oftentimes it's the smallest things that throw us off. We get in a stressful situation or a moment that really matters. And we think, oh my gosh, that's a crazy lamp right there. Oh, this, this, and you're just, you get thrown off by the smallest things. If you mentally prepare for that, it changes the experience. Yeah. I love that. That's one of my favorite explanations of visualization ever. Because it's a dress rehearsal. It's a dress rehearsal. That's what people don't realize. I think we think of visualization as this like really like mystical, crazy thing. And it's like, no, no, no. You're letting your body and your mind feel the experience so that when you go into it, you feel comfortable in it. It's not foreign. And you're right. It can be used by anyone, even when they're not an athlete, because it's like doing a dress rehearsal of you walking around on stage. It's not foreign. It's not foreign. It's not foreign. It's not foreign. You're on stage doing that presentation, walking into the meeting at the call, as you said, like you can visualize what that's going to feel like. You can feel the phone in your hand. You can hear it. hear that person's voice. You can go through all of that before you step into the arena. People underestimate how important that is. They really do. Preparing your body for something is so valuable. Why physically do we prepare our body so much for something, but mentally we won't prepare ourselves for something? It's the same thing. There's been studies that they've done where they've taken people and had them practice shooting free throws over a period of time. Have one group actually shoot the free throw, have another group just visualize themselves making the free throw. The difference was not that much. It was a small difference because mental reps are so important. Even after I train, I only have a finite amount of time on the track. I can't high jump, run a hundred meter all day. I can visualize all day. I can be driving my car and in my head playing the jump over. I can get up in the morning and do an in-detail meditation. I can have a moment to myself before I'm done. I can have a meeting where I take a sec and visualize my high jump. Those are reps. Compared to my competitors who maybe go to the track and then don't think about it the rest of the day, I'm always getting better in my head. I'm always thinking about it. It's a competitive advantage for anybody in any area of life. Talk to me about the physical aspect too, though, because I've seen your videos of you working out, weightlifting. Talk to me about the workout schedule in getting to something like the gym. Talk to me about the workout schedule in getting to something like the. Talk to me about the workout schedule in getting to something like the And also the recovery, because what can't you do by having a press? Is it that you could push yourself too much? Could you get injured? What does that look like for you when you're lifting weights? What do you have to be careful of in things that we may not be as aware of? Training for the Paralympics, specifically the last one, it was all in, everything. What does your schedule look like every week? 10 plus hours of sleep every single day, meditation, visualization, journaling, hours and hours on the track, hours in the weight room, deep tissue massage, physical therapy, hyperbaric, red light, sauna, pimp mat. The reality is track is not a sport like basketball, where you can shoot free throws or work on certain aspects of your game for seven hours a day. I can't do that. I would destroy my body. I'm pushing my body to the limits every single rep. And doing that on one leg means I'm putting even more force on my sound side. And I don't want to risk injury. And so we only are on the track for a few hours. But what am I doing the rest of the day to optimize for that? What am I doing in the weight room? What am I doing when I'm getting a massage? What am I doing from a recovery standpoint? We basically, from Tokyo to Paris, elevated everything that we were doing. And it changed the game. I was showing up to the track way fresher, getting 10 to 12 hours of sleep every night without fail, using great recovery modalities, using my Theragun all the time, going in the hyperbaric, using red light sauna, all of these things to make my time on the track even better and even more valuable. And once again, these are little wins. If I get 1% better every day over a long enough period of time, that's the difference between me and my competitors, which is when people go to work out, it's easy to work out when you're at the track. It's easy to weightlift when you're in the gym and your coach is telling you what to do. And it's easy to work out when you're at the track. It's easy to weightlift when you're at the track. But my mentality is I want to optimize my life to make those moments even more valuable. And that's what's going to separate me from my competitors. That's what's going to separate me is what am I doing the other 10 hours throughout the day to still get better? That's crazy. I mean, the strength that leg must have is insane. Yeah. Like walk me through that because I don't think I've had to overcompensate. Talk to me about what we wouldn't understand. Like talk to me about what, what we miss. Cause when I see you do it, it looks insanely impressive, but I'm not aware of just how much training thinking has gone into that moment because you've had to think about it much more deeply because of everything from, like you said, you could risk injury. And basically I have, I'm 21 years old. I got the leg of probably a 42 year old, just from a sense of the pounding and stress as in growing up. And even still this day, I'm always going to naturally favor my sound side more. I'm putting asymmetrical load on my body at all times. And I've been doing that for a long time. And I've And so that's means my right leg is definitely stronger. I've got a right, a right thigh. That's the size of two, two normal legs. And, uh, it's great because I have a lot of strength and that helps me and aids me on the track. But of course I do a lot of work to be as symmetrical as I can. I train my prosthetic side a ton, but my right leg just takes a beating and it will always take more of a beating. And I want to make sure that not only am I healthy for the hopefully 15 plus more years I have still in my career, but I want to be able to do it. And I want to be able to play with my kids. I want to be able to be, uh, a mobile grandfather, uh, who's knowing that I have a lot more mileage. I still have to put on my right leg over these years. And so that's why the recovery stuff is so important. That's why the physical therapy is so important. That's why the second I feel anything, we immediately jump on it and make sure we nip it in the bud. Cause I can't have any problems with my, my sound. Like I got one foot, I got one knee. I got to make sure it's healthy. I love hearing that. And it's so helpful hearing that because just shows how much you value what you have. Like there's such a deep value for your body and value for what it's capable of and value for what you want it to be capable of and the beautiful dreams you have for family and everything else to come in your life. When I see you lift in the gym, like, and you'll post, you know, videos online. I'm just like, wow. Like I'm like blown away by, I'm trying to think about when you first lifted a weight in your life, was that like the most uncomfortable, strange feeling in the world? Like we had to do things differently naturally in, in the way I weight lift the positions that we can hit. But I, I started training so young. You got used to it. I got used to it. And it's crazy. Cause my coaches, the people in my life, they don't even, we think about some adaptations for the prosthetic, but it's so second nature. They don't even think about it. And even now from a dancing perspective, everything we're doing is so foreign, but like my partner, we forget that I'm trying to do this on a prosthetic. And that's sort of beautiful. It's like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, that we can push the boundaries in a way and that the people close to me don't think about my disability ever. And so when we're in the weight room, it's like, yeah, we take my leg off for certain things, but it's just so seamless at this point. It's like, it's like butter. There's times where I surprised myself. There's times where we do something. I'm like, I don't know if I'm going to, and I'm like, my coach is like, just try it. It's like, oh, I can't do that. Right. That happens all the time. But yeah, we, we started weightlifting so young and, and, and there's just something beautiful about getting to push the boundaries. But I do love, I do love weightlifting. It's, it's so fun. And for someone who doesn't see people with disabilities, weightlift regularly, like I'm, I don't see lots of other people with disabilities posting weightlifting content or whatever. There is something really cool about the adaptations that we have to make. I just don't think about it ever. It's so second nature. That's what I'm saying. For me watching, I'm like, that is mind over matter. Like that is an unbelievable mindset. That's so inspiring to watch. And, and as I, as I'm hearing from you, it is mind over matter because you're, you're completely. Like I can do this. I'm going to try it. And it goes back to what your parents wrote in that letter of like, don't put your limits on him. Yeah. Yeah. Let him be in the pursuit of his limits. Like you're getting to test that. That's, this is why people work out. This is why people do hard things. This is why people run marathons or do triathlons or even go on the treadmill for 20 minutes on their lunch break. It's because there's something beautiful about pushing yourself to your limits, finding out where that limit is. I'm very grateful that I get to do this for, for a living. What was that feeling? Like you'd posted the video, shook the hands, manifested, visualized, and then two Paralympic golds. What was that feeling like? What was that experience like? The best feeling in the world, but they felt different. So I was doing that 100 day countdown for the high jump. Yeah. I had four days of back-to-back competition. First night, long jump next night, a hundred meter prelims next night, a hundred meter final next night, high jump final. And I was like, I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this. High jump was last. My goal was to medal in all three of them. First night, I got fifth in the long jump. And I was, I mean, you know me now I was pissed, but I had three more days of competition. So the next day, a hundred meter prelims, I had to basically try to forget the loss that just happened previously. A hundred meter prelims went well. Coming into the a hundred meter final, I'm ranked seventh, not projected to medal. And I remember I was feeling really confident and we were in the call room, which is basically a room where all the athletes go to prep before they walk out into the stadium. And the stadium is above us. And we can hear the ceiling vibrating from 60,000 screaming fans. And I'm looking around at my competitors and I'm thinking to myself, everyone's really nervous. You can feel the stress and the fear. You know, the fear that was in that room. And I was thinking to myself, if I stay relaxed, maybe something can happen. And as I was getting into the blocks, I was really calm, really relaxed. And as I'm getting into the blocks, I'm telling myself, be present. This race is going to go by so fast. Let me be right here. And the gun went off. I had the best start of my life. And at about 40 to 50 meters into the race, I'm thinking to myself, oh, I'm in this race. And this is weird because it was too fast for this. But my brain was somehow telling myself full sentences. I was saying to myself, full sentences, stay relaxed. You're in a good position. Stay relaxed. Stroke the arms. You're in it. You're in it. Stay relaxed. I was talking to myself, which is crazy. That was the definition of flow state when your ability to perceive and process what's going on enhances the experience. It was unbelievable. And as I feel the line approaching, I'm thinking to myself, I can feel it's a close race. I got to put everything I have into this lean and time it perfectly. And I throw my body into this lean. I cross the line and I just got chills thinking about it. I crossed the line and out of my peripheral, I can see one of my teammates who was doing media interviews, watching the race, and he's jumping up and going crazy. I had no idea where I was in the race, but I see that. I'm like, oh, did I just, what just happened? If you told me I got seventh, if you told me I got second, I would have had no idea. And we're standing there and we're watching this screen that's taking forever. Felt like literally a lifetime going dot, dot, dot, dot, dot, dot, waiting for the results. And the camera is on one of my competitors from Denmark. And he's looking at the camera and he's going, yeah. And I'm thinking, oh, he must've won. I'm happy with a medal in this event. I came in ranked seventh and it goes dot, dot, dot. And then boom, my name comes up first and the stadium goes crazy. And I take off and I'm running and I'm screaming. I run to my family. Everyone's sobbing. It was just that moment of dot, dot, dot, boom. I'll never forget that feeling winning your first Paralympic gold in a surprise way, in an event that I didn't even think I was that good at compared to some of the other guys I was going up against. And it was the best feeling ever. And then sure enough, I have this crazy, high, it's the best moment ever. My family and friends and everything's going crazy. My phone's going nuts. And in 24 hours, I got to go compete for the high jump. And that was what I was doing the 100 day countdown towards. And so I had to, my coach literally told me, he called me, he was like, get back to the village. We're going to, you're going to tell me everything about the experience for 20 minutes. And then you're going to shut up and not talk about it until after tomorrow night. So I get back to the village. I'm like, it was this, and it was that I'm telling stories and I'm showing messages and I'm like, oh, and then the 20 minutes is up. He's like, all right, put the phone on, do not disturb. We're done. And so I told the staff, I told my teammates, don't bring up that 100 meter for me, please, for the next 24 hours. And I had to remind myself of that feeling of that kid in the Tokyo stadium, because this was my opportunity to get that back. And I thought to myself, listen, if I went out there and won the 100 meter and then lost my main event that I did the countdown for, I would never forgive myself. I'd be 60 years old with my grandkids still thinking about that. And so I was like, I got to make sure. That we deliver. And sure enough, by two or three o'clock the next day, I forgot it was gone. And then the feeling after I won the high jump was just relief and joy and just so much gratitude, but it was totally different than the night before, which was just pure shock. Was it the same approach for the high jump? Was it like this? Everyone's stressed. I'm relaxed. I'm just in slow. Was it a different approach? Everyone gets stressed in these moments, but I was so relaxed. Every time I compete, I'm so relaxed. I don't get nervous. Before I compete, once again, product of my mother. She always told me as a young kid, you're not nervous. You're excited. The feelings are the same. Tell yourself it's excitement and the nerves will go away. And I would always tell myself, I'm excited. I'm pumped for this because it is the same, the heart racing, getting amped up. I'm amped before I compete, but I'm not nervous. And I have lost the sensation of nerves entirely. I don't get nervous for anything in my life now because of that, because of what my mom said. So I wasn't nervous. I didn't get nervous for anything in my life. But loose and enjoying the moment, being present and yeah, very similar, similar mentality for each event. How do you stop yourself in that moment from like the memory of the blade hitting the pole and like those kind of like movie moments we all almost imagine of like, oh, your life flashes before your eyes are like, how are you so locked in? What is it? Is it, of course, your mom's advice? Is it music you've listened to before? Is it like, what is it that allows you to not? It's the meditation. Every morning when I meditate, I'm training my mind. For what I'm going to experience when I compete. And so naturally in meditation, the first couple of times you try it, other thoughts creep in and you get better at the skill of removing those thoughts. You're training your brain to focus on something. Nowadays, there's a million distractions. How do you get your brain to slow down and focus on a very specific thing? And so the repetition of that over three, four years, if a thought comes into my brain, I can get it out real quick. And also being able to observe my thoughts. I'm the observer of my thoughts. If a thought comes in, it's not detrimental. It's just something I'm observing. And then I have strategies in my brain to help remove that. And the practice of that every morning in meditation just changed the way I was able to operate in these competitive environments. It's so great to hear you explain meditation that simply and beautifully. It's, you're absolutely right though, because you're meditating for so many days and years. You're getting to get the thoughts that are going to trip you up in the finals out early on. And so it's not that you never had that thought. It's that you had that thought so early on. It's just that it doesn't repeat itself because you've practiced not having that thought for so long. And the thought doesn't throw you off. Yes. The thought is a thought and it's a moment. And when I'm competing, it's not like no other thoughts get into my head. I'm sitting there and I'm thinking, Oh, I love this song. Oh, this is I'm having a good time. I'm relaxed, but nothing throws me off. That's the ultimate flow state is letting nothing throw you off your game. Yeah. That could be in a meeting. That could be when you're doing something really important, whatever you're going after, whatever you're doing. Like if you're in a job interview and you have a thought, great. That thought shouldn't throw you off entirely. Like you can observe that thought and it can go away and you can like, I don't think the process of, eliminating thoughts ever is flawless. Like there's always moments where it seeps in and you have moments of doubt and fear. And before the games, of course, there were moments where I'm like questioning myself thinking, Oh my gosh, I had a bad practice and this and that. And that work that I've put in to strengthen my mind, to flip it to something positive is a skill just like running on the track is a skill. And then therefore allows me to mitigate those as much as I can. from Dancing With The Stars, what's the response? What do you say? Dancing With The Stars was something that I always dreamt about doing. It was always in the back of my mind. I've loved the show forever. I've had friends that have been on the show and it felt like it was so connected to my purpose to step out of my comfort zone and then through dance get to normalize disability, through dance hopefully get the opportunity to show people what's possible as an amputee, missing fingers. There's something so poetic about that. And so when I got the call, I was yes, 100%. And I couldn't have ever imagined how beautiful this journey would have been so far. Honestly, I never expected the type of support and love that I've received from the fans. I never would have expected to become literally best friends with my partner, Daniela. And this journey has been unbelievably special. For me, these first few weeks. Tell me about some of the messages you've received from fans and tell me about how it's been impacting the community and the people that you're doing this for. I feel like I'm dancing with the backing of so many people, whether they have a physical disability or they're different in any way, anybody in pursuit of their dreams that is facing any sort of challenges. And so I feel so much love and support. It is so fueling. It is so fueling. I get up every day and feel like I'm dancing with a purpose. And that is so special. And getting to see on social media, videos of kids with limb differences watching me dance, little girl who is missing fingers on her hand. And her father said to me how much it meant to see my left hand in the shot at the first part of our dance and to see people in wheelchairs and missing limbs and getting to feel like I can, help be a small part of that representation for this community that so badly needs it is filling my heart really. - Yeah, I'm sure you're getting so many messages and those videos to see that must be just like so heartwarming. - It's so beautiful. It's so special. I mean, this is literally who I do it for. I saw this video of this really cute kid with a hand difference and he's jumping on his bed, watching me dance, watching me do a cha-cha, something that doesn't feel special, but I'm like, I feel serious. I'm dancing, I'm having fun, I'm doing goofy moves, but it is serious because the ripple effect of that is so massive and I could not be more honored and grateful to be on such a special show and to get to feel so connected to my purpose. One of my best friends in the world, he's like a brother to me. He texted me a week or so ago, his name's Max, sent me this really sweet message saying how connected am right now and how he feels like I'm literally doing things that I always dreamt of in a totally different way. I never would have expected that dancing would be such an important part of my mission now, but it has been. And to have one of your best friends in the world remind you of that, it was really special and I feel very connected. And that must be special because they've seen you along the way. They've heard you talk about your dreams. He's seen me along the way and he's seen me talk about normalizing disability through the Paralympics. And then now I get to do that in some unique way through dance. It's like, oh my, it's so special. It's amazing. Has anyone cool reached out that you've been like, that you could share that you're like, oh, this was a cool moment for you? Amy Purdy has given me a lot of love. She's amazing. Which was really special. She's fantastic. She was on Dancing with the Stars. She was the first Paralympian to ever be on the show. Her and all of the other people with disabilities have paved the way. And honestly, the. The support within the Dancing with the Stars ecosystem has been really special. Yeah. Tell me about that. Tell me about the dynamics of the class. It is. The way I describe it is it's like a summer camp. And you go to the summer camp and you become best friends with all of these people. And you know that at some point that experience is going to come to an end, but that makes you appreciate every single moment you have with them so much more. And you know that you're going to be lifelong friends afterwards. Such beautiful people, such a loving environment. And because. All of the cast is stepping out of their comfort zone and dancing on national television, it bonds you. I've only known some of these people for a little over a month. I love. I have deep, deep love for these cast members, for the community that makes this show possible. But even like getting love from last year's winner, Robert Irwin, and getting to meet him, and getting to feel his energy. And he was saying such sweet things. And everyone that has been on the show previously sticks around. And gives so much love. It is a beautiful, beautiful machine that puts on that show. And how special. In a time where we are divided, in a time where attentions are being pulled in a million different directions, I'm honored to be a part of a show that can make people feel good, that can touch the homes of America in a beautiful way and bring people together of all different generations. It's really special. And so once again, just like on the track, I'm trying to appreciate and savor, and enjoy every second of this. Because I know this is going to be a time in 10 years time that I would pay so much money to relive. It's so great, you know, that to be doing so many incredible things with your life, and you know it in the moment, rather than to look back with nostalgia and say, oh, once upon a time, I used to do this thing. And you know, you have this kind of beautiful vision of it. But to actually get to absorb every positive emotion and every feeling. And I'm sure when you and Danielle are dancing and you're looking at the camera, and you're looking at the hosts, and you know, you're really in the mix, it feels like you can savor that experience in a way that you'll remember it even more than if you just look back on it as a fond memory. You're absolutely right. I remember after my first dance, we did a tango week one. And one of the interviewers in the press line after, they were like, do you even remember the dance or do you just black out? And I said, actually, I remember every step of that dance. I remember every single time my foot touched that floor, because I was trying to remember it. And I remember every single time my foot touched that floor, because I was trying to. I was trying to be present. And that makes the experience feel so magical when I even think back about that week one dance. Once again, that's what I'm trying to embody every time I step in the ballroom. What does it feel like going from being an expert in what you do, being elite, and then starting something totally brand new? You told me you had no background in dance. It's crazy. I am not a dancer in any way. I mean, maybe I shouldn't say that now, words are spells, but I was not a dancer. I have danced at, weddings and loved to dance and was always in the middle of the dance floor, having a good time, but no dance experience. And so not only is that a challenge for us, but then also from a prosthetic standpoint, from a disability standpoint, we are having to reshape the way we do certain movements. And she's having to totally step out of her comfort zone in the way she choreographs each dance and the movements we can do and the things we can't do. As well. And so it has been such a challenge, but such a beautiful challenge. And I feel like a fish out of water in some ways, but that's kind of beautiful. And I love something that is challenging. I love something that, like we talked about, allows you to push yourself to your limits. And in this way, I am doing that to a T. I'm learning frame and positions and certain steps and trying to do that. And I'm learning how to do that. And I'm learning to make movements across the dance floor look smooth on a piece of technology that is not designed for fluidity. And there's Roblox. We fall, we bump knees and her knee is black and blue. We trip, we can't do things right. We spend a lot of time throwing things at the wall, trying to see what sticks, but it is so rewarding when you get to deliver a dance and people resonate with it and they feel something and the support has been out of this world. I thought that the notifications on my phone were crazy after I won gold. It's been even crazier. The amount of people that have reached out has been so, so sweet. Yeah. And you're here to win. There's so much that's out of your control on a show like Dancing with Stars. In track, it's black and white. You win, you lose. Here, you don't know how someone's going to feel or respond to your dance. And so my mentality here is I'm going to put my heart into this. I'm going to put my soul into this. I'm going to do absolutely everything I can to work hard, leave no stone unturned. And then we let the cards fall where they fall. But my, my thought is I'm going to wear my heart on my sleeve, dance my heart out on that dance floor. And if we can go far, that would be amazing. But of course, you know, of course, winning would be a dream come true. I'm wishing you all the best. I'm going to do a show. I'm going to come watch you. Please come to the show. I'm going to watch you. Yeah, I would love to have you. I would love to have you. As I've been listening to you today, I feel like I've learned so much from you. I've learned about the community. I've learned about Paralympics. I've learned about what it feels like to have a limb deficiency. Like I've learned so much. And I feel like you're such a phenomenal spokesperson for your community. But I imagine that comes with pressure. I imagine that comes with weight and you wear it so gracefully and you, you wear it so confidently. And I love that for you. And maybe you don't feel it. Maybe just like with sport, you don't feel any pressure. Because you're like, this is me and this is who I am. I'm, I'm just intrigued as to like, how do you feel? Because you obviously want to show the world what's possible. And then of course, there's a whole community out there of different disabilities and challenges and difficulties. I think about this all the time. I will spend my life committed to this cause. And that is for me, genuinely what I feel like I was put on this earth to do. So there is no negativity in that. There is, there is beauty in that. There is gratitude in that. There is love in that. And that's the, that's the way I see it is sometimes people feel pressure, feel stress, feel fear, feel expectation, and it feels like it weighs them down. And everything that I feel like I was meant to do and representing a community is motivating to me. It's fueling, it's, it's uplifting. And so I actually, I feel like I'm I see it in the inverse and what an honor to even feel that kind of expectation. What an honor to even be in the position to represent a community that, that needs it. That's the honor of a lifetime. And so I can see how people would view it as pressure, but I see it as, as a beautiful, beautiful thing, actually. I love that answer. And your life's obviously full of advocacy. Can you tell me more about the advocacy? I love the advocacy work that you're actually doing as well. Of course, whether you're competing on dancing with the stars or winning gold in the Paralympics, these are all incredible. But I know before we even started recording, we were talking about some of your work. Can you tell, tell me a bit more about that? It was over a decade ago where when I first started adaptive sports, we were having to travel across the country to find these track meets where I could compete against other people with physical disabilities. And my father was just thinking, why are we traveling halfway across the country? And I was like, why are we traveling halfway across the country? And he was like, why are we traveling halfway across the country? You're telling me there's no adaptive sports in Southern California. If you have a physical disability, that's absurd. We have the people, facilities, the weather, it's a sports obsessed city. And so that was the spark. And then my family and I, we founded our nonprofit, Angel City Sports, and we do year round sport programming, equipment, training, competitive opportunities for people with physical disabilities. We know the power of sport, the power of movement, what it does for you physically, psychologically, what it does for the soul. Those same effects are tenfold in someone with a physical disability, especially when they feel like that's not even possible for them. And so we have over the years grown this to become one of the bigger adaptive sports organizations in the country, providing year round sports, so many clinics, anyone, any age, any kind of disability can come and be active and try and get connected to the community. And there's power in just being around other people like yourself, especially when you live with a disability. You don't maybe see a lot of people with your same kind of day, but then you come to an Angel City event and you see people like yourself, you exchange stories, you try sport, you connect. It's really about the community. That is one of the things I'm the most proud of so far is this nonprofit and the lives we've been able to touch and the community we've been able to build. It's very, very important to me. And then, yeah, I feel like this is a special moment that we have leading into 2028 with the Paralympics coming to change the way the world views disability through sport and through the Paralympics. And so leaning in as much as I can to make sure we maximize that moment, you'll definitely be in the stands in 2028. Would love to have you there. Absolutely. I'd love to be there. And capitalize on that. And hopefully through the Paralympics, through this beautiful opportunity, I call it our golden opportunity, do what we've seen throughout history with the Jackie Robinson, the Billie Jean King, the Nelson Mandela, the moment to transcend. Yeah. And change society for the better. What's the one thing you want the world to stop believing about people with disabilities? The one thing that I would want the world to stop believing about people with disabilities is that they are any less capable because of their physical attributes. I mean, people with disabilities should not be underestimated. It's a product of society's perception of this thing that is scary and a little bit isolated and it has a stigma. We are never limited by the amount of limbs that we have or what we have access to physically. And people with disabilities are some of the most creative and innovative in the ways that they're able to adapt, adjust, overcome. Even watching people with disabilities play sports is the coolest thing. Watching these sports that have been adapted, they're so fascinating. I have people who started watching the Paralympics because they were family friends of mine or something, and then go down a rabbit hole and become obsessed with these very, very niche sports because they're just so entertaining. I've always had the philosophy that if you took a hundred people who had never seen the Olympics and never seen the Paralympics either, you expose them to both. There's an argument that even seeing people with disabilities play these sports has a crazier and longer lasting impression just because of how foreign it seems. And so there's kind of something really cool about that. Yeah, it's mind-blowing watching actually. It's just, yeah, you are totally taken aback. In the best way possible. Yeah, you're in awe. And then your perception of disability is changed. Absolutely. Yeah. And so from a macro standpoint, that's how society progresses. For sure. It's definitely where the conversation starts. It's definitely where the conversation shifts. Ezra, it has been so fun talking to you today and getting to know you. This flew by. I know. It was so much fun. Two hours. It is incredible to see what you've done as such a young man and the eloquence and poise that you have. The ways with which you talk about the incredible life you live and the impact you want to make and the fact that you found your purpose so young and are able to express it so spectacularly is something I'm in awe of, truly. It's really special, man. And congratulations. And I'm genuinely, genuinely going to be cheering for you all the way, rooting for you in your corner, excited to see what you go on to do. And we end every episode of On Purpose with a final five. These questions have to be answered in one sentence maximum. So Ezra, do your final five. The first question is, what is the best advice you've ever heard or received? Dream big. Who said that to you? My parents. How has it helped you? I think most people fail, not because they set goals that are too high and fall short of them, but rather because they set goals that are too low. They accomplish those and then in turn, just leave a ton of potential on the table because they didn't believe that they were capable of more. And so dreaming big, pursuing it with everything I have is, that's my DNA. And that came from my parents. I love that. Question number two, what's the worst advice you've ever heard or received? Be okay being mediocre. There was a basketball coach who never said this verbatim when I was younger, but would definitely doubt me and would always tell me that it's okay to not score a ton of points. It's okay to not play well. You got a disability, man. It's okay. And I would always think to myself, why would I ever not push myself just because I had a physical disability if I felt like I was capable of more? And every time I would score baskets, this guy would go, you guys are gonna let the kid with one leg score on you. You're gonna let the disabled kid score on you. He meant it as a compliment, but I remember thinking like, dude, that's so insulting. Just because I play basketball my whole life and I have a disability, all of a sudden, I shouldn't be scoring on my team. In practice, like there was a interesting sense of real ableism from him. And he would always be like, you're, you're good, man. Like you don't have to keep trying so hard just because I remember like, just because I'm disabled, I shouldn't try hard to try to be great. I shouldn't try just because I have something that you perceive as a negative. I should get pity points for that. Yeah. Screw that. Yeah. I don't want pity points. Yeah. Thank you. That's very helpful. It's useful as well. Because like you said earlier, people can be well-intentioned or they're trying to give a compliment or the, but it it's, it's not recognizing what you're actually going through. Disabled people shouldn't be pitied. Yeah. Yeah. Someone with a disability shouldn't be pitied or be inspiring just for having a physical disability. They should be inspiring for the person that they are, the things they speak about, what they overcome, what they pursue. It's just this reoccurring trope that like, even growing up, I would talk to kids and they'd be like, I'm so sorry. Like, don't feel bad for me. I love my life. I love my disability. I love who I am. You don't have to feel bad for me. My parents would get that all the time. They'd be like, I'm so sorry about Ezra. Parents are like, sorry for what? Because he has a disability. It's not the end of the world. And so people shouldn't, shouldn't pity disability. It's a beautiful part of our society. Question number three. What do you say to yourself when you don't want to get out of bed in the morning? I tell myself that, that there are kids all over the world with physical disabilities who are seen as cursed, seen as less than. I tell myself that there's such a large percentage of the population that needs a voice and needs a spokesperson and needs to feel properly included in society. And if I can play even the smallest role in making that happen, I must commit my absolute life to doing so. That goes beyond sport, beyond dance, beyond speaking. That's the ultimate motivator for me. Question number four. If anyone listening is struggling right now, what would you say to them? I would tell them to embrace being uncomfortable as much as possible. Surround themselves with people who deeply care for them and find something that is really meaningful and pursue it. I think most people struggle to find something that is really meaningful to them. Struggle to find that something that is really meaningful. Struggle to find that something that is really meaningful to them. And that can be the thing that pulls you out of even the most dark moments is knowing that you're doing this for a bigger purpose and you were put on this earth for a specific reason. And it's pulled me out of my low points. It's pulled me out of my own head sometimes is recognizing why I'm here, what I feel like I was put on this earth to do. And it might take some soul searching. It might take a lot of trial and error, but I firmly believe that with enough effort, anyone can find something that is really meaningful. And it might put on this earth for. Fifth and final question. We ask this to every guest who's ever been on the show. If you could create one law that everyone in the world had to follow, what would it be? People with disabilities get equal access to sport opportunities all over the world. That would be the law that every single sport opportunity that any able-bodied person gets, someone with a disability gets the same. That would be the law. I think that would transform society. Ezra Freck, one of the stars, Paralympian. This episode is brought to you by Whole Foods Market. Fall is here and Whole Foods Market has everything you need for a healthier season. For a start, they've banned more than 300 ingredients. So the four flavors you love really come through with nothing in the way. Like there's no bleached or bromated flowers or high fructose corn syrup in any of their delicious baked goods. And they can help you get ahead of cold season with immunity shots, herbal teas, lozenges, and supplements. Shop for all flavors with higher standards at Whole Foods Market. Now streaming only on Disney+. Finding a doctor is hard enough. Finding the right doctor, even harder. Someone who takes your insurance, has an available appointment when you need one, and feels like someone you can actually open up to. That's where ZocDoc comes in. Download the ZocDoc app to search and compare doctors by specialty, insurance, and availability. Read real patient reviews, find the right fit for you, and book instantly. Because getting seen by the right doctor matters. ZocDoc, Ready to be seen? Download the ZocDoc app today. Ford Medalist, truly a pleasure, man. Thank you so much. Such a pleasure. Thank you for having me.