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Tribune News Service

As a breakout star at the Paris Paralympics, Ezra Frech was thrilled about winning gold medals in the 100 metres and high jump, but the Los Angeles teenager was also hoping for a bigger sort of victory.
Large crowds and record television coverage have him feeling good about the past two weeks in France. It has him thinking about 2028 when the Games come to his hometown.
Hosting a Games in Tinseltown has will be “special opportunity for Paralympic sport”, according to the 19-year-old, who hopes to ride “this momentum” into 2028.
Other para athletes and officials share his sense of optimism. After decades of fighting for attention, they feel poised to emerge from the shadow of their older, more-glamorous sister, the Summer Olympics.
As Frech put it: “I feel like the Paralympics right now are where the women’s sports movement was maybe 15 years ago. We’re getting close to mainstream.”

The onus now falls on LA28 organisers to continue building on what Paris has achieved. An International Paralympic Committee executive sounded bullish.
“We want to conquer America,” spokesman Craig Spence said. “It is as simple as that.”
The past decade or so has seen the movement taking a few steps back from the 2012 London Paralympics, regarded as the most-successful ever. Numbers from Paris suggest a rebound.
More than 1,450 hours of live coverage had been made available to 225 media companies that obtained rights to these Games. The IPC predicts its worldwide audience will surpass 4.1 billion.
In the US, NBCUniversal has offered 140 hours of coverage on its various channels and 1,500 streaming hours on Peacock. Through the first six days, the NBC network reported an average of 1.32 million viewers, a 49 per cent increase versus Tokyo three years ago.
Attendance in Paris has been just as encouraging, with ticket sales surpassing 2.4 million heading into the final weekend. Athletes have sounded almost giddy.
“It’s really crazy,” Hannah Moore, a British para-triathlete, said. “Not like anything I’ve ever experienced before, just too many people just screaming for you.”
Still, there is much work to do before 2028.
A recent Congressional report titled “Passing the Torch” recommended that the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee use its influence – the country pours billions into the two movements – to pressure broadcasters for more coverage.
Evan Medell of the US, a bronze medallist in taekwondo, wants sports federations to throw more marketing weight behind his and other sports.
“Even within our taekwondo community, people don’t even know para is part of it,” he said.

Athletes know they must carry some of the load. It’s no longer enough to train and win medals, said US swimmer Jamal Hill, who sees a need for athletes to promote themselves through social media and other avenues.
Frech has become a face of the Paralympic movement by doing frequent interviews, walking the runway in fashion shows and growing his social media following to more than half a million.
“It comes from us athletes, building our own stories, building our own brands, creating our own storytelling, right?” he said.
The hope is that para sports can reach an inflection point similar to the one women’s basketball is now experiencing with the popularity of Caitlin Clark.
A crossover star “changes everything,” said US javelin thrower Justin Phongsavanh. “Now we’ve got more viewership, now we have more money and more fans. We have all of these things because we had a trailblazer.”
Though LA has hosted the Olympics twice before, this will be the first time since the inception of the Paralympics in 1988.
Much of the Paralympics’ success will hinge on the amount of coverage and advertising NBC is willing to devote. Closer to home, marketing will be essential to driving ticket sales.
“The Paralympic Games do not have the awareness or the profile in the US as they do in Europe,” Spence said. “My advice is to spend the next two years educating the audience on what to expect … on why we are so special.”
So far, LA28 has made history as the first organising committee to add a new sport – para climbing – to the official programme. It remains to be seen if the Paralympics, like the Olympics a few weeks earlier, will stage events in major venues such as SoFi Stadium and the Intuit Dome.
Reynold Hoover, the LA28 CEO, envisions something more than just sport, calling the Games “an exceptional opportunity to celebrate people living with disabilities”, adding that “when 4,400 Paralympians come to L.A. to chase their wildest dreams – we’ll be ready for them”.
City officials have also been involved with mayor Karen Bass leading a contingent to Paris to observe accessibility in the athlete’s village and at venues.
For all his optimism, Frech understands the challenge ahead.
With family and friends, he helped establish Angel City Sports, a local nonprofit that provides adaptive sports clinics, classes and competitions. He was also a part of LA28’s handover presentation at Sunday’s closing ceremony.
“We’re battling a lot of things, it’s an uphill battle,” he said of the next four years. “I’m prepared to do everything in my power to make it happen in LA”


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Paris 2024 Paralympic Games

Ezra Frech competes during the men’s high jump T63 final during the Paris Paralympics. Photo: AP

Mayor of Los Angeles Karen Bass waves the Paralympics flag during the closing ceremony for the Paris Paralympics. Photo: AFP

Reynold Hoover discusses the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympics at the LA28 office in Paris. Photo: AP

Paris Paralympics: Hong Kong leader Lee hails city’s ‘warriors of life’, China still dominant

Hong Kong’s Daniel Chan carries the city’s flag during the closing ceremony at the Stade de France. Photo: AFP

Ho Yuen-kei (left) won two gold medals in boccia at the Paris Paralympics, with husband Lee Wing-kit acting as her ramp operator. Photo: Reuters

Jiang Yuyan jumps into the water before the women’s S6 100m backstroke final. Photo: Xinhua

Chinese teenager Jiang Yuyan has won seven gold medals at the Paris Paralympics and set a world record in the 100m backstroke S6 but has barely had any attention online. Photo: Xinhua

China completed the podium in the women’s 200m SM5 with gold medallist He Shenggao (centre), silver medallist Lu Dong (left) and Cheng Jiao, who won bronze. Photo: Reuters

Chinese swimmer Pan Zhanle became a national hero following his record-breaking exploits at the Paris Olympics. Photo: Reuters

Sport

Other Sport

Large crowds and record coverage have officials feeling bullish about next Games in four years


Large crowds and record coverage have officials feeling bullish about next Games in four years.
