Former Olympic Pentathlete shares struggles of training in Colorado Springs

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - "The sport of modern pentathlon consists of five events. We have fencing, swimming, horseback riding, running and shooting," explains Samantha Schultz. Schultz started her run as an Olympian on the USA pentathlon team in 2010.

"I think when I first started the sport, it was kind of a shock to me that I wasn't funded more. I'm up and coming. I still have to prove that I should be here and that I am worthy of going to the Olympics and I have potential," says Schultz.

Schultz had so much potential that in 2012 she was able to live at the Olympic Training Center for free, "So I lived, ate, and trained all things at the Olympic Training Center leading up until the Rio Olympics," says Schultz.

But after the Rio Olympics in 2016, in which she was an alternate, she no longer was able to live at the OTC for free, "I really was never given a reason as to why our resident program was cut. A lot of times things were political and we really didn't know the depth of it. Essentially, we didn't get any medals in Rio. So that's kind of like, well, we don't perform, so we're going to have cuts made. No longer could we live there for free access and get the meals for free," says Schultz.

It made training for the 2020 games much more difficult, "So having that ability to have a residency spot where I could live somewhere for free, have food, for free access to coaches, sports medicine, that was like the only way I really survive through that for years," says Schultz.

She often wonders with all the fundraising that goes on, how come some athletes never see a dime of it?

"I see Donate to Team USA, donate to this and it's like, well, where's all that money going? Like, I'm not seeing any of this, especially if you're not training at the training center," says Schultz

Samantha says a reason why athletes don't speak up is because they don't want to make a splash.

"As athletes, like, you want to perform, but you also don't really want to rock the boat and cause a lot of issues because that could be your spot and you want to just kind of be a good athlete and do what you're told," says Schultz.