Episode #22 - Miles Krajewski
Miles Krajewski was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, and raised in Yankton, South Dakota. He started playing badminton at the age of eight by participating in the 2013 World Dwarf Games. He began playing in USAB junior tournaments against average height players his age and participated in his first international para-badminton tournament in Northern Ireland at the age of 10. Miles has competed in 21 international tournaments, including the 2019 Parapan American Games, where he earned silver in SH6 Men's Singles. You can follow Miles' journey on his Facebook page - Miles Krajewski - Parabadminton.
Episode #21 - A.B. Anwar
AB Anwar – Born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and immigrated to the US at the age of 10. He was born with cerebral palsy and uses a power chair to navigate the world. He has been playing the sport of boccia at n elite level since 1998. He’s competed at the Boccia World Championships, numerous Boccia world cups and has won the US nationals multiple times. He is currently ranked #7 in the US but has ranked as high as #1.
Episode #20 - Beatrice De Lavalette
Beatrice DeLavalette – Born in France, Bea is an elite Para-Equestrian athlete and a double amputee. Her love of horses was handed down from her mother, and she started riding horses as soon as she was able to walk. In 2016 she was injured in the Brussels Airport terrorist bombing. She climbed back on a horse five months later. She started her equestrian career in January 2020 and is headed to Tokyo to represent Team USA.
Episode #19 - Ian Seidenfeld
Born and raised in Lakeville, Minnesota, he has pseudoachondroplasia (Dwarfism). He found table tennis at the age of 5 from his father, Mitch, who is a three-time Paralympian and a gold medalist. He has traveled the world and participated in international competitions. He won the gold medal at the Para-Pan-American games in Lima, Peru, in 2019 and is headed to Tokyo to represent Team USA.
Episode #18 - Nicky Nieves
Nicky Nieves was born in Queens, New York, and grew up in Kissimmee, Florida. She is a member of the Team USA Sitting volleyball team headed to Tokyo. She was born missing her left hand. She has been playing sitting volleyball at an elite level for over a decade and competing worldwide. She’s been to two world championships and won 2 silver medals. She’s a two-time Paralympian and won a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games. During the summer, she works at a camp called Nuability Athletics, teaching sports to children ages 5 to 18 with physical disabilities. She coaches volleyball and is the director and founder of Limitless People Inc., Nonprofit.
Episode #17 - Brianna Salinaro
Brianna Salinaro is from Massapequa, New York. She was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy at the age of one. She competed in various sports growing up, such as basketball, softball, and tennis and found the sport of Taekwondo at the age of five. She discovered Para Taekwondo in 2016. She’s been to two World Para Taekwondo Championships and won a bronze medal. She’s won numerous medals in Championship Taekwondo all over the world. She is ranked #4 in the world.
Episode #16 - Joe Delagrave
Joe Delagrave was born in Racine, Wisconsin, and raised in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. He played football at Winona State University. After a boating accident in 2004, he had to find another path to athletics and found the adaptive sport of wheelchair rugby. He’s attended three world championships and brought home one gold and two bronze. He also brought home a bronze medal from the 2012 London Paralympic Games. He is the co-captain for the Team USA wheelchair rugby team that is going to Tokyo.
Episode #15 - Terry Hayes
Terry Hayes – Paralympian – Fencing – Terry was born in Freemont, Nebraska, and grew up in Tidewater, Virginia. She has a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Atlantic Christian College and a Master's degree in Early Childhood Special Education from Old Dominion University. Hayes served in the Army as an early childhood special education teacher. Hayes wanted to remain involved in sports after being diagnosed with Primary Cerebellar Degeneration, a progressive brain disease, and becoming a full-time wheelchair user. Doing a Google search for wheelchair sports, Hayes discovered parafencing with a video of Lauryn DeLuca fencing at the 2016 Paralympic Games. She’s been fencing ever since and will be the oldest Category B fencer at the Tokyo Games.
You can follow Terry’s journey on the following social media:
Facebook – Terry Hayes
Twitter - @2flgals
Instagram – parafencing.usa.terry
GoFundMe - Terry Hayes
Episode #14 - Jake Schrom
Jake Schrom – Paralympian – Para-Power Lifting – Jake was born and raised in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, attended Boyle Springs High School, and graduated from Penn State University in landscaping and design. When Jake was twenty years old, he was involved in a trucking accident and was thrown out of the window. The truck then landed on his right leg. As a result, his leg had to be amputated. He won a bronze medal at the para-powerlifting world cup in Manchester, England, and has represented US Para-Powerlifting worldwide. He is headed to Tokyo to do the same.
You can follow Jake’s journey on the following social media:
Facebook – Jake Schrom
Instagram – Jake_from_weight_farm
Episode #13 - Jazmin Ryan
Jazmin Ryan – Paralympian – Shooting – Jazmin was born in Tokyo, Japan, and grew up in Houston, Texas. At the age of eighteen, she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, but at the age of twenty-two, she was re-diagnosed with Progressive Spastic Myelopathy. She is currently on the US Team for Paralympic shooting. She attended the Rio Paralympic games and is representing Team USA in Tokyo. She travels internationally to compete for Team USA.
You can follow her journey on the following social media:
Facebook – Jazmin Ryan
Episode #12 - MaryKate Callahan
MaryKate Callahan – MaryKate is an elite para-triathlete. She grew up in suburban Chicago, and at five months old, she contracted Transverse Myelitis which attacked her spinal cord with a TA-T10 level spinal cord injury, leaving her paraplegic. She has traveled the world competing in the sport of Triathlon, attending three world championships in which she placed in the Top 10. She is also a staunch disability advocate and a graduate of the University of Arizona.
You can follow MaryKate’s journey at the following social media;
Instagram mk.callahan
Twitter - @mkcallahan13
Episode #11 - Robert Tanaka
Robert Tanaka – Robert is a visually impaired athlete born and raised in Colorado and a USC student. He started practicing judo at the age of five. As their youngest member, he made the US National Team, has competed internationally, and trained in Japan. You can follow Robert’s journey on the following social media;
Instagram Robert_k_tanaka
Facebook – Robert Tanaka
Episode #10 - Kaitlyn Verfuerth
Kaitlyn grew up in Wisconsin and acquired a spinal cord injury when she was seven years old. She’s an elite multisport athlete. She’s competed in three Paralympic games and many other international tournaments in wheelchair tennis. She’s a double gold medalist from the Para-Pan-American games. She is a coach, mentor, and disability advocate. You can follow Kaitlyn’s journey on the following social media;
Facebook – Kaitlyn Verfeurth
Instagram – kverf
Snapchat - kvwheels
Kaitlynverfeurth.com
Episode #9 - Laura Goodkind
Laura was diagnosed with cerebral palsy as an infant and has been having major reconstructive surgeries since age 3. She found rowing in 2014 and is now an elite Para-rower. She competed in the 2016 Rio Paralympics as well as many world championships. She has made the team headed to Tokyo. She is an active ambassador for Angel City Sports, frequently sharing her story at schools.
Episode #8 - Owen Bainbridge
Owen plays blind para-football. He was born with congenital glaucoma and lost his vision at the age of 6. He played his first international match at the age of 20. He has seventy international match appearances, played in five European Championships, and won three bronze medals. He’s also been to two World Games and the World Grand Prix, where he earned silver medals.
You can follow Owens’s journey on the following social media;
Twitter - @owenbainbridge3
Facebook – Owen Bainbridge
Episode #7 - Dana Mathewson
Dana Mathewson is a Paralympian tennis player and one of the VIP coaches at Angel City Sports. She attended the University of Arizona. She competed in the Rio Paralympics; she also won a gold medal at the Para-Pan-American games in 2019. She’s competed at the US Open, the British Open, the Japan Open, and many other tournaments worldwide.
You can follow Dana’s journey at the following social media;
Instagram – dana.mathewson
Facebook – Dana Mathewson
Twitter - @mathewson_dana
Episode #6 - Lia Coryell
Lia Coryell joined the army straight out of high school at the age of 18 and just a year later is diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. She did not find the sport of archery until 2015, when she was in her mid-50’s. She has gone on to become an elite archer. She is the first female W1 to make the US Paralympic team. She competed in the Rio Paralympic Games and has represented the US in other international competitions. She is a leader and advocate in the veteran's community.
You can follow Lia’s journey at the following social media handles –
Instagram – lia.coryell and Facebook – Lisa Lia Coryell
Episode #5 - Eliana Mason and Calahan Young
Eliana Mason and Calahan Young – They are both members of the US Goalball team. Eliana hails from Beaverton, Oregon, and won a bronze medal at the Rio Paralympic Games in 2016 and a gold medal at the World Championships in 2014. Calahan Young hails from the Keystone state of Pennsylvania and won a silver medal at the Pan American Games in 2019, which earned the US Goalball team a trip to Tokyo.
You can follow Eliana and Calahan's journey at the following social media handles -
Eliana Mason - Instagram - Elianaamarieee, Facebook - Eliana Mason
Calahan - Instagram - therealcalahanyoung, Facebook - Calahan Young
To follow the Men's and Women's Goalball programs on Instagram - USAMGoalball, USAWGoalball, on Facebook - USA Men's Goalball, and USA Women's Goalball, and on Twitter @USAMGoalball and @USAWGoalball
Episode #4 - Sam Bosco
Sam Bosco has been an athlete her entire life. She was born with a bowed tibia. She is a Paralympic cyclist who has attended twelve world championships and received ten medals. She went to the Rio Paralympics in 2016, earning our country two bronze medals. She has made the team going to Tokyo in 2021.
You can follow Sam’s journey on Instagram at sammiecranks and on Facebook at Samantha Bosco.
Episode #3 - Jamal Hill
Jamal Hill is a 24-year-old Paralympic swimmer. He is ranked number 1 in his classification in the US Paralympic freestyle in both the 50m and 100m. At ten years old, he first experienced a temporary total paralysis, and doctors considered amputating his right arm. Ultimately, he received the diagnosis of Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease - a degenerative neurological disease that typically weakness muscles in the legs and arms.
Jamal is a budding star, in part due to his growing brand and media presence. He has been featured in many ads, including Speedo and Airbnb, and has been profiled in multiple short news documentaries.
In 2018, Jamal founded the non-profit organization "Swim Uphill." Its mission is to teach one million people how to swim through private training, sponsors, and a digital swim school platform — the organization targets low-income communities. Jamal was named the 2021 Cullen Jones Aquatic Athlete of the year, presented by Diversity in Aquatics.
You can follow Jamal's journey on Instagram at swimuphill, on Facebook at Jamal James Hill, and Twitter @swimuphill.