Ryan Bozer:
Hey, thanks for joining us here on SDPB. I am your Morning Edition host, Ryan Bozer. Joining me this morning is our sports and recreation reporter, Nate Wek, and we're going to bring Your Morning In Play. How are you doing this morning, Nate?
Nate Wek:
I'm doing good, Ryan. How are you?
Ryan Bozer:
I'm doing pretty good. We're still in early spring. We're probably not done with the late season snow storms, but I just can't help but be excited for summer, the weather, the longer days. And this year, it's an Olympics Paralympics year. That's always exciting. And I get the sense that I'm probably not the only one excited for it because I understand that one South Dakotan is off to Paris to actually compete in the Paralympics.
Nate Wek:
Absolutely, and it's a kid that we spoke about a few weeks back when we were highlighting our Tales from the Hardwood series. You might remember the name Miles Krajewski. Well, as luck would have it, Miles Krajewski is making headlines again because last week he officially received an invite for qualification to the United States Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris. So he'll be competing in badminton, representing Yankton, representing South Dakota, and also, more importantly, representing the United States on that world platform. So that'll be really exciting to follow Miles as he takes this next step in his journey.
Ryan Bozer:
Right. Because I recall when we highlighted him before, he's already traveled around the world to compete in these badminton competitions, but now this is a slightly different stage for him, right?
Nate Wek:
Absolutely. And when we interviewed him in late January, early February, he'd talked to us about all the different places he's been, Thailand, Switzerland, Ireland. He just listed off just country after country. So I did ask him with this one, I made sure to call him and get just a few fresh quotes and stuff like that for a print piece. And I was like, "Miles, have you been to Paris, France, yet of all the places you've been?" And he goes, "No." He goes, "That's one place I have not been." So he says, "I'm really looking forward to checking another country off the list."
And I know when we talked to him in February as well, he was really excited. He mentioned to us, "The goal for me would be to be in Paris for the Paralympic Games. That's my goal. I hope it happens." So fast-forward two months, to see that that came to fruition for him, I'm really happy for him. He is a great kid. Comes from a great family. It's always fun to highlight high school kids, and a high school senior out of Yankton going to Paris to represent the United States is a really big deal.
Ryan Bozer:
Yeah, absolutely. So you just mentioned he's a senior in high school. So he's wrapping up his final year of high school, but then also having to get prepared then for the Olympic events. How does that work with his schedule? How's he juggling all of that, plus anything else he might be up to?
Nate Wek:
Right. So a lot of kids that are seniors in high school, when it comes to April, they're starting to think of one thing, and that's usually graduation. So that's obviously on his mind. He's a varsity tennis player for Yankton as well, and he's competing in this spring tennis season, just like he has the last few years as well. So he's still competing in that. So I did ask him. I said, "Miles, obviously, there's going to be a point in time here where your badminton training has to ramp up because the Paralympics are late August into the early part of September. So what can you tell me about that training regimen?" And here's what he had to say.
Miles Krajewski:
If I don't start pretty soon, I'll probably do it right after school ends. And then I'll be training for quite a while. And then I have a tournament in June in Scotland, and that'll be the last tournament before the Paralympics. And then July is really the big month of training since it's one month out from the Paralympics.
Ryan Bozer:
So he's clearly got a plan going into it. He's set the schedule for himself. When you were talking with him, did you get any indication? I know Paris is a new city for him to be in. Is there any sense of the stage is different for him when he's going to be there competing?
Nate Wek:
I didn't really get that vibe from him that this is something that he was, I guess, maybe intimidated by. If you ever talk to Miles, he's very driven. He's got a very strong mental capacity. And I think to be a world-class athlete, that's just the mentality you have to have. He qualified for badminton, actually in mixed doubles. His partner is Jayci Simon, out of Michigan. So he's partners with somebody that lives in a completely different state. And we just heard him mention too, that he's got a badminton event on the horizon in Switzerland in June. And once that wraps up, it is going to be all training to get ready for Paris.
And it'll be just interesting to see. Because he qualified in mixed doubles, he automatically does too, get inserted into the singles portion of the competition. So he was optimistic and said, "I think I got a good chance here at bringing home one of the three medals. So it'll be interesting to see what happens." He's like, "Anything can happen," but he says, "I'm anxious for it, I'm ready for it, and I'm just super excited, super thrilled." So I think once high school wraps up, once graduation wraps up, once that spring tennis season wraps up, I think pretty quickly you're going to see his mentality change, and he's going to be all in on badminton and getting himself ready for the end of August.
Ryan Bozer:
It's already exciting when you're graduating high school. You're excited to be done. But now, he's got this other thing to look forward to going to Paris to compete in the Paralympics. And I'm sure the community, if not others in the state, are going to be so excited to get to track his progress. Nate, when are the Paralympics this year? Do you recall?
Nate Wek:
Yeah. So August 28th through September 8th is when the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games will take place. So there'll be an opening ceremony type of thing, that whole shebang. There's going to be a lot of pomp and circumstance with it. Probably a lot more than what he's used to at some of these other world or international competitions. It's going to be one of those things. And you know what? The way technology works today and things being so much more instantaneous, people are going to be able to follow Miles, follow those types of things taking place in Paris. So it's going to be a lot of fun. And I hope that people, at least in our state, can appreciate the amount of work that he's put in. The fact that he is a multi-sport athlete with golf, tennis, badminton. And it's one of these fun stories that we're fortunate to get to tell, where it's fun to interview kids, learn a little bit about them, and then fast-forward and see them doing other things in life too. So that's one of the joys of my job that I really like.
Ryan Bozer:
Yeah. Well, again, congrats to Miles for qualifying. He's got a busy couple of months heading his way, but again, what an incredibly exciting couple of months coming up for him. And I know I'm personally rooting for him. I'm sure you are too, Nate, to see him do the best he can and get to show off what South Dakota's got.
Nate Wek:
You know what? I did text his dad, Mike, after I found out too, and I said, "Hey, congrats. I'm happy for Miles. I'm happy for you guys as a family and stuff too." Because when I say he comes from a great family, he really does. His dad, Mike, is a great guy. And Mike was just like, "Hey, thanks so much for the support. We're super excited. This is a great thing." And I 100% agree. This is not even just a great thing. It's a phenomenal thing.
Ryan Bozer:
Yeah, absolutely. Well, you'll be able to keep up with all the action at the Paralympics from August 28th through September 8th this summer. It gives you something to look forward to in the midst of, I'm sure, whenever our next snowstorm is. Nate, always great having you join me in the morning. We'll talk again soon.
Nate Wek:
Hey, you bet, Ryan. Thanks.
