Winston Provides Pro Bono Counsel to Double Amputee Athlete Blake Leeper in his Appeal to be Eligible for Tokyo Olympics

Winston & Strawn’s Jeffrey Kessler is leading the fight to bring the best, and most inclusive, athletes to the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Kessler is providing pro bono counsel to Blake Leeper, a U.S. Paralympic sprinter born without legs below his knees, in his efforts to reverse a decision by World Athletics that previously ruled that Leeper, who competes with blade prosthetics, has an unfair advantage. Commenting on Leeper’s appeal to the Washington Post, Kessler said, “It is maddening. It is not really understandable except for how deep-seated this adversity in that body is against the disabled competing on the world stage at the highest level against non-disabled runners when they’re able to do so.”

Read the full article on Blake Leeper’s efforts to compete this summer here.