Abled: The Blake Leeper Story

Meet Blake Leeper, a medal-winning Paralympian sprinter and world record holder in the 400m. Born with both legs missing below the knee, Leeper embraced sports from a young age but did not turn his eye to competitive running till his late teens. He became a major competitor in 100m, 200m, and 400m sprints, earning silver and bronze medals at the 2012 London Paralympics. Leeper intended to compete at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics against "able-bodied" runners. But, despite the one-time precedent set by Oscar Pistorius at the 2012 Olympics, World Athletics, the sport's governing body, claims Leeper's blades give him an advantage over non-disabled runners. Using candid interviews, incisive reporting, and rigorous scientific testing, the film reveals the deliberate biases faced by disabled athletes and the dubious science and deceptive publicity used to bar them from cross competitions. (Dan Doody)

Born without legs and a diagnosis of never being able to walk, Blake Leeper is not expected to transcend past his disability, let alone become one of the fastest men in the world. With his family’s support, Blake uses prostheses to defy his odds at an early age by playing different sports, leaving him enticed by how far he can push his abilities. His belief in himself and inspiration from fellow blade runners leads Blake to the track where he finds himself excelling in a world he could have never imagined. 

Blake’s driving passion for competing brings him massive success at the 2012 Paralympic Games and a hunger for more. Attempting to change the world of sports, Blake sets out to race against the best non-disabled competitors, paving a new way for blade runners. He does exactly that and sets a new world record at the 2019 able-bodied US Nationals, making him the fastest blade runner to run 400m, making the US Olympic Team, and qualifying him for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. 

His newfound success brings public scrutiny with claims that his running blades offer him an unfair advantage. His dreams are crushed when The Track and Field Association disqualifies Blake’s fastest record times in an attempt to reassess the capabilities of his prosthetic blades. Blake’s next hurdle is a race against time and institutional resistance. He must prove to the world why he should be eligible to compete on his biggest stage.