Paris 2024: Los Angeles Olympians to Watch

Ezra Frech
Para athletics world record holder from Brentwood takes a bold leap

Los Angeles’ Ezra Frech made headlines this year when he became the first above-the-knee amputee to commit to a Division I college track and field program. “I’m excited to continue my academic and athletic career competing against able-bodied athletes at the University of Southern California,” Frech, who turned 19 in May, revealed in a TikTok video. Born without most of his left leg, Frech was drawn to athletics at an early age. By 8, he was competing with the help of a prosthetic. Making his Paralympic debut at the 2020 Tokyo Games, he placed fifth in the high jump and eighth in the long jump. Last summer at the World Para Athletics Championships in Paris, the Brentwood School senior won the men’s high jump with a record leap of 1.95 meters (6 feet, 5 inches). Alongside his dad, Clayton, Frech, who aims to continue his success at the Paralympics in Paris, co-founded Angel City Sports, a nonprofit that provides sports opportunities for people with physical disabilities.

Read more about Ezra Frech in this expanded profile .

Jajaira Gonzalez
Latina boxer from Glendora packs a big punch

Being part of the U.S. boxing team at the upcoming Olympics means everything to Mexican American Jajaira Gonzalez from Glendora. “I think it’s great that I’m not only representing the U.S., I’m also representing the Latino culture, being a Spanish-speaking Mexicana,” Gonzalez tells Los Angeles . But she didn’t come to boxing easily. At 8 years old, she felt pressured to follow her brothers into the sport (featherweight Joet has been a top contender). “There were never any girls for me to spar against, so I would beat up the little boys that were training at the gym,” Gonzalez says. Competing in real bouts against girls, knockouts soon followed. She dominated the junior ranks, taking a gold medal at the Youth Olympics in Nanjing in 2014, then won two women’s national championships. At age 27, she’ll compete in Paris in the lightweight division.

Read more about Jajaira Gonzalez in this expanded profile .

Nick Itkin
West Los Angeles fencer has unfinished business in Paris

Ranked No. 1 in the world in foil, considered the most difficult discipline in fencing, West L.A.’s Nick Itkin will compete in his second Olympics in Paris, after helping the U.S. team take a bronze medal in Tokyo. Itkin’s passion for the sport comes from his father, a world-class fencer from Ukraine, who teaches foil at the L.A. International Fencing Center. As a kid, Itkin would watch the fencers practice. “As I got older, my dad started coaching me and realizing how much I wanted to do this seriously,” Itkin tells Los Angeles . The five-time national champion won a silver medal in Milan last July, becoming the first American man to win individual fencing medals at consecutive world championships. Now 24, he feels he’s ready to claim gold. “It means a lot,” Itkin says. “Ever since I was a kid, I dreamed of being at this level. And it’s not only about me but competing for your whole country.”

Read more about Nick Itkin in this expanded profile .

Ilona Maher
Rugby star and social influencer combines speed and power

Ilona Maher has been part of the U.S. women’s rugby team since 2018, competing in the World Cup Sevens in San Francisco and the Tokyo Olympics. Combining speed and power, the 5-foot-10, 200-pound Maher led Quinnipiac University to three national championships. A week after graduating, she headed to Southern California to compete for a spot on the U.S. national team and hasn’t left. A social influencer with a big following on TikTok and Instagram, she posts messages that stress body positivity.

Caitlin Simmers
World’s top female surfer takes SoCal flair to Tahiti

Surfing is in the blood of Oceanside’s Caitlin Simmers, who was boogie boarding by age 7 and grew up catching a wave pretty much daily, often with one of her parents. She has piled up trophies wherever she’s competed, putting the world on notice in 2021 by winning the U.S. Open of Surfing at 15 — becoming the second-youngest champion in the event’s history. Last year’s World Surf League Rookie of the Year, Simmers, now 18, has spent much of the current season as the top-ranked woman, fueled by wins at Oahu’s Banzai Pipeline in February and Bells Beach in Victoria, Australia, in early April, where she stole the win from France’s Johanne Defay on the final wave. When she’s not in the water, you can find her testing her moves at the local skate park. She also enjoys making travel surf movies that feature her exploits, including last year’s Toasted . She hopes her next film will include her toasting a gold medal at the Olympic surfing venue in Teahupo’o, Tahiti.

This story first appeared in the July 2024 issue of Los Angeles magazine, on newsstands now; click here to subscribe today.