Two Paralympics, Two Medals for U.S. Para Table Tennis Athlete Ian Seidenfeld. This time, It’s Bronze

PARIS — Lakeville, Minnesota’s Ian Seidenfeld knows nothing but podium finishes early into his Para Table Tennis career at the Paralympic Games.

In front of a roaring crowd that used the metal bleachers for their drum sets, Seidenfeld battled Italy’s Matteo Parenzan for a spot in the gold-medal match later tonight. However, it just wasn’t the 23-year-old’s cards this time as he fell, three sets to zero, to take home the bronze medal in the men’s singles MS6 classification. The medal comes three years after Seidenfeld clinched gold at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

“I worked really hard to win both of these medals,” Seidenfeld stated. “So, the medals are great. But, I just appreciate how I persevered through a lot of challenges throughout the last three years. And then I know I’ll persevere through the next four more.”

Seidenfeld noted that while hearing chants of “U.S.A, U.S.A,” was beneficial to him and “affected Parenzan” a bit, the rumbling thunder sounds that the fans created when stomping their feet took him by surprise.

“It did seem to affect me more this time than my last two matches,” Seidenfeld said. “I was so focused that I couldn’t hear anything in my first two matches. But this one, I seemed to be not so much ‘in-the-moment,’ unfortunately.”

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Seidenfeld’s gold medal came in an arena only filled with objective officials and a handful of volunteers.

Parenzan also took advantage of his short-service abilited, which forced Seidenfeld to use a wooden extension to avoid having the ball bounce twice on his side of the table. While Seidenfeld was able to return Parenzan’s serve consistently throughout the match, the extension caused a slight disadvantage during longer rallies. If Seidenfeld was unable to detach the extension between a shot, he was unable to move his paddle across his body quick enough to prepare backhand hits.

“He played a lot of short serves, and a lot of second balls short as well,” Seidenfeld began. “So, I couldn’t make a great shot, and I’d have to come back and hit with my extension or be able to get it off. But, I just wasn’t able to get (the extension) off fast enough. I just have some kinks to work out.

Parenzan has become somewhat of a rival of Seidenfeld’s having also met in Tokyo. He won that match but has dropped his last two games against the Italian. Nonetheless, Seidenfeld, who is a big fan of the NBA, also revealed a small facet of the ‘Mamba Mentality’ he holds when speaking about his opponent.

“I’m a much better player than he is at almost every other shot,” Seidenfeld stated confidently. “So, I don’t need to improve my other shots as much as working on getting those short serves back. It doesn’t bring me joy to hit those shots or play against that. I really play table tennis to have fun.”

Seidenfeld mentioned he’s the only competitor who uses a wooden extension when opponents elect to serve short to him on the table. Although there is no official name for the tool, he has personally nicknamed it “The Big Stick.” The name is an homage to Teddy Roosevelt’s famous quote, “Speak softly and carry a big stick,” which Seidenfeld subconsciously uses as a personal metaphor for how he approaches tournaments.

Seidenfeld hopes his medal streak helps increase the popularity of table tennis in the United States moving forward, referencing when his favorite NBA player, Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, bolstered its television coverage after becoming a rabid fan for USA Table Tennis athletes during their run at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

“We had a lot of success in the Olympics,” Seidenfeld said, noting that Kanak Jha became the first-ever U.S. men’s table tennis athlete to advance to the round of 16.

“So, getting a medal in the Paralympics is really awesome for the sport. Hopefully, we can gain more publicity.”

Seidenfeld ended his time with the media by saying Minnesota Timberwolves guard and Olympic gold medalist Anthony Edwards – who became USA Table Tennis’ biggest fan during his time in Paris – is also his favorite basketball player and hopes he has the chance to meet him one day.

“It’s a fun game,” he said of table tennis. “And if people want to play it, then play it. Play it at a high level. Play it at a low level. Just do whatever you can do to have fun with it.”

Brendan Rourke is a digital media assistant for the USOPC. Previously, he spent three years writing for the NBA's Indiana Pacers.