Parenting One Of Many Daily Duties For Paralympic Snowboarder Mike Schultz

Mike Schultz competes during the men's snowboardcross SB-LL1 qualification at the Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 on March 6, 2022 in Zhangjiakou, China.

“In 2018 during the PyeongChang Games, she was 4 years old, so it was a little over her head,” Schultz said. “She understood what I was doing, but the following quad coming into Beijing, it was so much more fun to have her involved in it more. She’s a little gymnast, and she’s a very motivated gymnast.

“And one of the coolest parts pertaining to these Games was that she was my little training partner. That was a fun way to include her, and she’d be able to see the progression of my workouts, which would motivate her to work harder in the gym while she’s doing her gymnastics.”

Lauren’s involvement continued outside of the gym.

“She was very much a part of a lot of it, whether it be working out in the gym with me or on the ski hill training,” said Schultz, “like she’d run stopwatches and she’d go through my training courses with me. It was so much fun.

“That was the really positive part. One of the reasons why I decided to go to Beijing was I really wanted her to be able to come to China with my wife Sara and experience it as a family. Unfortunately, that wasn’t able to happen with COVID.”

COVID also added another layer of difficulty to the already hectic travel schedule for Schultz leading into the Games.

“The biggest challenge of it all these last two years was the time away from home and the whole quarantining process before and after my travel, which really challenged us as a family and was a unique situation that we weren’t necessarily prepared for,” Schultz said. “There were some definitely difficult moments there where I couldn’t embrace Lauren like the way I wanted to, and we had to keep our distance. 

“There were some tough times throughout the last two years with it all. She couldn’t understand why I couldn’t give her a big hug. That was a little tough.”

One of the incentives for the 40-year-old Schultz to continue with competitive snowboarding is getting Lauren to another Games at an age when she will better appreciate the experience.

“It’s definitely a motivator because I can see how I’m influencing her to work harder,” Schultz said. “I’m just a good role model for her, and she’s able to see how hard I work for what I want. That’s going to transfer into her thought process.

“And for me, being a parent, I think that’s probably the most valuable lesson that anyone can teach their daughter or son, just being a good role model driven towards goals and understanding, well, it doesn’t always work out the way you want it. But as long as you pour your heart and soul into it and do your very best, good things will happen.”