Your vote! Nephew of JFS CEO nominated for ESPY award for “Best Athlete With A Disability”
Published June 29, 2022
The 2022 ESPYS Awards are getting close, and it’s time to decide which athletes will take home an award. Among the nominees for Best Athlete With A Disability, is table tennis star Ian Seidenfeld, the nephew of Jewish Family Services (JFS) CEO Miriam Seidenfeld.
Last year Seidenfeld upset the world No. 1 to win gold in table tennis at the Tokyo Paralympics.
Seidenfeld’s father, Mitchell is himself a four-time Paralympic table tennis medalist, told TeamUSA.Org’s Bob Reinert, that Ian’s gold medal meant more to him than the one he earned in Barcelona in 1992.
“When he started to play table tennis, I knew that he would want to be good,” Mitchell said. “And he’s had to deal with a lot of pressure because he had to become a gold medalist. And it’s very difficult.
“So now he is a gold medalist. He has no more pressure. It was a little too much pressure for a boy to have, thinking that the only way to be successful is to be the best, but maybe it’s what drove him to become the best.”
Both Seidenfelds have Pseudoachondroplasia dwarfism, an inherited bone growth disorder, and compete in Class 6, “for players who can stand but have severe impairments in their arms and legs.”
Cast your vote now and tune in to the ESPYS on ABC on July 20 at 8 p.m. ET.
