Meet Ian Seidenfeld of the USA, world #16 in men's Class 6 para table tennis. Coached by his father, legendary Paralympian Mitch Seidenfeld, Ian has been training hard since first picking up a paddle at age five. Born with psuedoachondroplasia dwarfism, a rare genetic condition affecting his bone growth, Seidenfeld has represented the United States in international competition since joining the 2013 US Para Junior Table Tennis Team. Last summer, an 18-year-old Seidenfeld joined the rest of the USA Para Team in Lima, Peru for the 2019 Para Pan American Games. There, on August 24, he met Matias Pino Lorca of Chile in the men's Class 6 final. Pino Lorca, ranked 12th in the world in men's Class 6 para table tennis, won gold with a (11-9, 11-9, 11-4) win over Seidenfeld. With the gold medal, Pino Lorca also won trip to Tokyo for 2020 Paralympic games (now postponed to 2021, along with the Olympics). After event, Pino Lorca submitted a urine sample to International Paralympic Committee (IPC) in compliance with World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Now, the IPC has announced that Matias Pino Lorca used a Class 6 prohibited substance, the category for stimulants. The offending substance in question was octopamine, a substance similar to adrenaline first found in octopus spit. (Award yourself five bonus points if you already knew that.) (Also, give yourself an additional five points if you noticed that Pino Lorca, a Class 6 para athlete, was busted for using a Class 6 substance. Finally, treat yourself to no less than one hundred bonus points if you resisted the urge to call this "ironic." After all, as "Weird Al" Yankovic reminds us in the song "Word Crimes," "Irony is not coincidence.") According to the IPC, "As a result of his disqualification from the Men’s Singles Class 6 competition at the 2019 Parapan American Games, USA’s Ian Seidenfeld, the original silver medallist, will now be awarded the gold medal." With the medal, presumably, comes a spot in the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo (again, observed in 2021). While this may not be the way Seidenfeld would have hoped to qualify for the Paralympic games, the fact remains that he was the highest-finishing eligible player in the qualifying event. Congratulations to Ian Seidenfeld, who earned his way to Tokyo with good, old-fashioned hard work.
