Road to LA 2028 - Building Awareness from Leuven to Flanders
My name is Fré Leys. I am a paraclimber, member of the Belgian climbing team since 2016 and born with a non-functional right leg, and I also hold a PhD in Engineering.
My primary goal is win paralympic gold at the LA 2028 Paralympics. This is a historic event, as it will be the first time paraclimbing is included in the games.
If successful, I would become the first-ever Paralympian from my hometown of Leuven, Belgium.
To qualify for and compete in the LA 2028 Paralympic Games and to win a gold medal for Belgium.
To use my personal story and struggle as a platform to promote paraclimbing and the wider Paralympic movement in Belgium.
The centerpiece of this campaign is my website, fre2028.LA
The .LA domain was chosen specifically to represent the host city of the 2028 Paralympics.
The entire campaign flow is structured around "Nodes"—major milestones or activations scheduled every 100 days.
Primary focus on my hometown of Leuven.
Expand the focus to Flanders and national-level awareness.
This node marks the official start, exactly 1000 days before the Paralympics.
fre2028.LA goes live.
Hold a press conference targeted specifically at Leuven news media.
Officially begin building my team of partners.
Launch a "tiny" marketing campaign in Leuven as a practice run for the larger campaign later on.
Begin the process of creating a logo to produce merchandise (t-shirts, hats).
"The Golden Fingers of Belgium" - 20-episode series
Concept: I will invite 20 of the most famous Belgian climbers to test their finger strength on a standardized setup.
Features: A running leaderboard will be maintained, and the winner will receive the "Golden Finger Trophy."
Goal: Promote paraclimbing and the Paralympics directly to the Belgian climbing community.
Future Potential: The test setup can later be used to tour Belgian climbing gyms, allowing all climbers to compare their strength against the participants. If successful, the series could be extended globally.
Internal Note: By collaborating with famous climbers, I can reach a large segment of the climbing community for free by leveraging their existing platforms.
An open competition organized in collaboration with my climbing club (BVKB from climbing gym "Klimax") and my non-profit "paraclimbing.be"
Date: Planned for June 20-21
Strategy: We expect mainly international paraclimbers due to the small number of Belgian competitors. The event is strategically scheduled for the weekend after a large international paraclimbing competition in Austria, hoping climbers will "hop by" Belgium on their way home.
Two-Day Event Structure:
Launch a large-scale, focused promotional campaign in Leuven.
Tactics:
Goal: To bring the people of Leuven into direct contact with the Paralympic movement, using my story as the "first Paralympian from Leuven" as the central narrative.
Specific Goal:
To make sure as many Leuven residents as possible can recognize the Paralympic logo, which is currently very unknown.
Status: These plans are not yet finalized but represent the direction for Phase 2.
Podcast:
Launch a podcast about performance and what makes a winner a winner.
Interview Series:
Host a series (video or podcast) interviewing other Paralympians.
National Television:
Actively work to get my story featured on national TV.
Docu-series:
Develop a concept for a series that follows my journey and that of other Belgian athletes on the road to LA 2028.