Miles Krajewski and Jayci Simon Secure Silver, the First-Ever Paralympic Badminton Medal for the U.S.

Miles Krajewski and Jayci Simon sprinted, leaped and dove over every obstacle thrown at them to make history.

The duo, who are only 19 years old, took down some of the biggest mixed doubles teams in the SH6 Para badminton classification to claim the first-ever Para badminton medal for the U.S. at a Paralympic Games. To add more to their historice moment, it is the first-ever Olympic or Paralympic badminton medal for any country West of Great Britain. Their unprecedented run included defeating the world No. 2 Sivarajan Solaimalai and Nithya Sivan of India twice – once in group stage play and later in the semifinals.

Facing a highly experienced Chinese team in the finals, Krajewski and Simon went all-out for the ultimate upset but fell just shy. After dropping the first set, 21-14, the duo started hot in the second and built a four-point lead. Unfortunately, the over-30-year-old pair of Naili Lin and Fengmei Li leaned on their prior matches to quickly turn the tides. Nonetheless, the pair are extremely excited to be taking home the silver medal.

“(Gold) is what we train for. That’s our vision,” Simon said. “But, very few make it to this stage and the gold-medal match. So, even though that’s still in our mind, it’s been even more amazing than what we’ve dreamed of.”

“Nobody expected to come in and get a silver medal,” Krejewski commented. “But deep down, we knew that we had a chance to win it all. So, we came out here, we played our best, and we ended up in the finals.”

When asked about how it felt playing on Para badminton’s biggest stage and against some of the biggest teams in the world, Krejewski noted that only positives can come out of it.

“I think this will really help us in the future,” Krajewski said. “Gaining all this experience and knowledge while playing in front of such a big crowd, along with such experienced players, I think this will help us in the long run.”

Krajewski and Simon have had anything but a normal tournament during their first Paralympic experiences. The delays in their schedules began before they even stepped foot in Paris. Their departure was delayed after mechanics discovered an issue with their aircraft. This made the duo have to de-plane, walk to another plane and wait until their luggage was also transferred to the new one.

Then came the marathon matches. On the first day of competition, both Simon and Krajewski played three group stage matches – two mixed team games with a singles match sandwiched in between. The games resulted in the duo residing inside the Porte de la Chappelle Arena for more than 12 hours a day. Krajewski and Simon’s semifinal match against on Aug. 31 did not start until after 10 p.m. Paris time.

“You kind of have to just have to roll with the punches,” Simon remarked. “Obviously, you can only focus on what you can control.”

“It was a bit draining,” Krajewski said after having to compete in singles at night yesterday and in the finals this morning. “But I still knew I needed to go out and compete. So, I pushed that to the side and now I can feel tired.”

Nonetheless, they showed up and competed to the fullest extent, producing several rallies that ended up going viral on social media platforms.

The medal not only stands as the first and best-ever finish by an American pair at a Paralympic Games, but also the first and best-ever finish by a team from the Pan-American region (North, South and Central America.) Only one other athlete from the Pan-American region has made a medal match at these games. Brazil’s Vitor Taveres will vie for bronze at 9:10 p.m. Paris time in men’s singles SH6.

Both Krajewski and Simon are hoping this medal will bring more popularity to their fast-paced, physical sport. The pair do not frequently train together during Paralympic cycles. But they were able to train together for three weeks before these Games. Currently, Simon does not train at an official training center. She trains with her parents, who feed her shuttlecocks to drill at their local church. She also attends weekly training sessions with the student badminton club at Michigan State University, playing against non-Para athletes.

“I hope that it creates more funding for us and also grows the sport,” Simon commented.

“Hopefully bringing back the first medal ever will help grow the sport,” Krajewski added. “(I hope it) gets the publicity out and makes people try out a new sport.”

After Paris, they both will take a small break and head back to college. Krajewski attends the University of South Dakota, and Simon attends Lansing Community College while also working as an optician. However, after settling into their schools, they will be right back to training as they hope to bring home the gold at the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games.

“We’re just going to continue to train,” Krejewski said. “Hopefully, all that experience and more tournaments (over the next four years) will come in handy, and help us bring home a gold medal.”