Watching the Summer Olympics in Paris will be bittersweet for Samantha Schultz. The Colorado Springs Olympian competed in the women’s pentathlon during the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which were postponed to 2021 due to the pandemic. She didn’t win a medal, but it was still a special season of life.
“Sometimes it doesn’t seem like it’s real, like I have impostor syndrome,” Schultz said. “But I look back at all those years and the time I dedicated. It doesn’t happen over night and I wasn’t some crazy stellar athlete in high school.
I just put my head down and worked really hard. It gives me motivation that I can get through anything with enough persistence.” In a perfect world Schultz would be in Paris right now, preparing to compete again, but her body told her otherwise.
Nowadays, she teaches Pilates and yoga around the Pikes Peak region and also does personal training. “I’ve never been on the other side of being an Olympian while watching the Summer Olympics,” she said. “At times it’s hard.
I did want to keep competing, but for my body and health I had to move in a different direction.” Schultz will be on hand during the Downtown Summer Fest on Saturday to sign autographs and talk about her time in Tokyo. The free event at the U.
S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum celebrates the Summer Olympics. The day will begin with the Rocky Mountain 5K and 1K Sasquatch Shuffle for kids, followed by a torch-lighting ceremony.
Local officials, dignitaries and athletes, including Schultz, will carry the torch across the bridge from America the Beautiful Park to the museum to open the festival. More than half a dozen Olympians will be at the event, including gymnast Dominique Dawes, Paralympic fencer Terry “Scooter” Hayes, bobsled athlete Chris Coleman and wrestler Adam Wheeler. Colorado Springs Switchbacks players also will be available for a meet and greet.
A jumbotron will livestream the Summer Olympics from Paris, and representatives from more than a dozen nongoverning bodies also will be on site, including USA Taekwondo, USA Team Handball, USA Fencing, USA Hockey and USA Weightlifting. The event also includes live music by Soul School and more than 80 vendors. Schultz will be rooting for the one U.
S. woman who qualified to compete in Paris in the pentathlon, which consists of five sports: fencing, swimming, equestrian, shooting and running. This will be the last time horseback riding is included in the event, which makes it more sentimental for Schultz.
Replacing it will be an obstacle course. Sharing her Olympic experience with fans is a positive part of the gig, as evidenced recently during an event at the museum. “A woman came up and started crying because she’d never met an Olympian,” Schultz said.
“I’m not Michael Phelps and I didn’t win a medal, but it was still a special moment for her. If I can impact someone and make them believe they can work hard to achieve their dreams, that makes me happy.”.
