Schultz comes from athletic pedigree
Long before Brianne TheisenEaton became an Olympic heptathlete, the Saskatchewan phenom mastered the hurdles on a makeshift track in the gravel alley behind her house in Humboldt.
Long before Nina Schultz received a track scholarship to Kansas State, she honed the art of high jumping by soaring over a string tied to two trees in her front yard in New Westminster, B.C.
The landing pit? A pile of couch pillows.
“My neighbours l oved i t ,” Schultz says. “They would always come out and watch. Sometimes, they even cheered for us.’’
Turns out, those neighbours might have been cheering for the next Canadian destined for greatness in the heptathlon. Recently turned 18, Schultz set a new Canadian junior record in January with 4,042 points in the indoor pentathlon.
The search is on for the next Theisen-Eaton, and Schultz doesn’t shy away from comparisons to the 2016 Olympic bronze medallist and world indoor champion.
“Brianne is obviously a great athlete, so it’s a lot to live up to,” Schultz says. “Obviously, she just retired, so I’m hoping that I can eventually fill her spot, fill her shoes and live up to her expectations and do well in Canada’s multi program.”
Schultz oozes potential, especially given her bloodlines. Her grandfather, Duan Qiyan, is a former national team track coach in China. Her grandmother, Zheng Fengrong, held the high jump world record for a time back in 1957 at 1.77 metres and she did that scissor style.
“She never lets me forget it,” Schultz says. “My personal best is only three centimetres higher and I flop so it’s a lot easier. She always nags me about that, so I hopefully can get a lot higher.”
The heptathlon — which includes the 100-metre hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200 metres, long jump, javelin and 800 metres — is considered the ultimate test of overall athletic ability and mental toughness for female athletes. Most elite participants tend to peak in their late 20s or early 30s. Success as a teenager is rare.
Schultz credits her grandparents for giving her a head start.
“I think one of the big factors is having my family involved in my early track career,” she says. “Obviously, they were very experienced so my grandpa made a very good coach. Right from the beginning, I had very good training and technique.”
Schultz’s grandmother missed out on competing at the Olympics because China boycotted from 1952- 84 over the International Olympic Committee’s recognition of Taiwan as an independent nation. She later carried the Olympic flag to open the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.
Schultz hopes to one day give Zheng the joy of watching her granddaughter compete at the Olympics, perhaps as early as 2020 in Tokyo. So far, she’s on the right track.
MR. COOL GROWS UP
The Toronto Star dubbed Manny Osborne-Paradis Canada’s Mr. Cool at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. The happy- go- lucky party boy on the Canadian alpine team seemed eternally young at the time without a care in the world.
Now 32, Osborne- Paradis is all grown up, married and the proud daddy of two- month- old baby girl Sloane Grace.
Sloane arrived on the weekend of the 2016 Lake Louise World Cup, which just happened to be cancelled for the first time in 29 years due to lack of snow.
“It was kind of a good thing for me that Lake Louise didn’t happen, because I wouldn’t have been t here,” said Osborne- Paradis. “Bittersweet. Bitter in that the race didn’t happen but sweet in that I wouldn’t have been there anyways.”
Two days after Sloane was born, Osborne- Paradis flew to France to resume his day job of charging down slick mountainsides at 140 km/h.
Racing on new skis this year f r om Head, Osborne- Paradis posted a season- best World Cup finish of sixth on the weekend in Garmisch, Germany — only 0.83 seconds back of winner Travis Ganong of the United States.
In any given race, Osborne-Paradis remains in striking distance of the podium, even if he is one of the older dogs on tour.
“When we talked 10 years ago, I thought I would be retired at 30,” he says. “But the best guys now are Aksel Lund Svindal ( 34) and Hannes Reichelt (36). All these old guys are up there. So we’re going to keep going as long as I’m having fun.”
Erik Guay is the elder statesmen on the Canadian speed team at 35. He crashed in Garmisch but is expected to compete at the world championships Feb 6-19 in St. Moritz, Switzerland.