U.S. wheelchair tennis great David Wagner was among a star-studded list of attendees at the seventh annual Gold Meets Golden awards over the weekend to benefit the next generation of Paralympic athletes. 

 

An eight-time medalist at four Paralympic Games dating back to Athens in 2004, Wagner (pictured above) is in line to represent the red, white and blue at a fifth Games in Tokyo later this year, but the California native started his 2020 season close to home alongside young adaptive athletes—and some of Hollywood's biggest stars—at the philanthropic event. 

 

Held at the Virginia Robinson Gardens during Golden Globes weekend on Saturday, attendees included celebrities Jon Voight, Rami Malek, Naomi Watts, Taron Egerton, Ben Platt, Kaitlyn Dever and Ginnifer Goodwin, as well as athletes such as Wagner, Ibtihaj Muhammad, Kristi Yamaguchi, Jackie Joyner-Kersee and husband Bob Kersee, Dara Torres, Katelyn Ohashi and Greg Louganis.

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Co-hosted by Nadia Comaneci and Nicole Kidman, the event raised over $50,000 to benefit Angel City Sports, a Los Angeles organization that helps support youths and adults with physical disabilities. 

 

As an unofficial kickoff on the road to Tokyo, the assembled stars of the silver screen also gathered to wish good luck to the athletes of the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

 

The funds raised will help to send more than 200 children and participants to the Angel City Games in June at UCLA and cover the costs of uniforms, wheelchair racers and other adaptive equipment.

 

And the young people set to benefit from the event could be in line to be the next generation of U.S. athletes at the next Olympic and Paralympic games on U.S. soil, which will be held in eight years, right in their backyard.

 

In speaking to the Los Angeles Times, Hollywood Foreign Press Association member Scott Orlin said: “By helping these children today, we are creating potential Paralympic stars of the future, as we look toward L.A. 2028."