As Samantha Bosco raced at the Paris Paralympics toward her first gold medal, she thought about her journey and the support along the way.
For Bosco, her winning moment in the women’s C4 time trial was a long time coming. After a serious injury caused her to miss the Tokyo Games, she said it took years of effort, tears, and recovery to return to the Paralympics.
“Even doing the time trial and feeling like I had no more to give towards the end of the race,” Bosco said. “Remembering all of the love from the people that went into it, and the journey of it, and the love that I gave myself by continuing to do something that I love, just helped me ride even harder to the finish line.”
Bosco, 37, was born with a leg-length discrepancy, was a college rower, and took up para cycling in 2011. Five years later, at the 2016 Rio Paralympics, she won bronze in the C5 pursuit and C5 time trial.
In 2021, shortly before she was set to compete at the Tokyo Games, a serious training accident left her with a traumatic brain injury and two skull fractures. It took 10 months of recovering and left Bosco wondering if she should remain in the sport.
“There were a lot of dark days. There were a lot of days where I wondered if I should keep doing it, because I almost died in the sport that I love but didn't want to have that happen again,” she said.
She brought her fears about competing again to her husband, Andrew. He asked her if she wanted to walk away, and she said she didn’t know.
“He gave me the best advice that I've ever gotten really, which was ‘Just do one race so that you don't wonder what if,’” she said. “‘If you want to walk away after that race, I 100% support you. If you want to keep going after that race, I 100% support you.’”
She took his advice and did that one race. Before even getting a mile into the race, Bosco said she knew this was what she was meant to do. Ever since she has competed one race at a time.
The philosophy has led her to a successful comeback. She’s since become a two-time world champion in both the C4 road time trial and C4 road race. In 2024, she became a world silver medalist in the C4 individual pursuit.
There were a lot of days where I wondered if I should keep doing it, because I almost died in the sport that I love but didn't want to have that happen again.
Even with her bronze Paralympic medals and world titles, when she arrived in Paris it felt like her first Games again.
“I anticipated coming here and enjoying what I could and trying to be in the moment, but also being nervous, because I wanted to do really well in the time trial,” she said. “But then I got here, and I just fell in love with Paralympics and the sport and everything about it, tenfold.”
Fortunately, those nerves did not hinder her in the time trial. She won gold with a time 4.92 seconds faster than Australia’s Meg Lemon and 5.09 seconds faster than Switzerland’s Franziska Matile-Doerig, who initially was leading the race.
For Bosco, that gold medal meant the world — a culmination of her grit, the people that helped her overcome her low moments, and the confidence she had coming into the race.
"My husband encouraged me to do one more bike race before deciding if I wanted to walk away from the sport. My sister in-law made shirts that said 'Sam Strong.' Today, I felt strong. Today, they helped me feel strong," she wrote on Instagram after the race.
A few days later, Bosco competed in her final race at the Paris Paralympics. In the C4-5 road race she knew she was a David racing against Goliaths in the climbing parts of the course.
“I just tried to hold on for dear life. And at one point one of the competitors attacked on the climb, and I just couldn't hold a wheel,” she recalled. “I knew it was coming. I could feel it, but I even did what I could to try to catch back on for the rest of that lap.”
She raced as hard as she could and placed fourth. An outcome Bosco said she was proud of because it signaled forward momentum: from sixth in Rio, to missing Tokyo, to fourth in Paris, and next, she hopes, to the podium in LA.
“The fourth place wasn't just a fourth in the road race,” she said. “It was a culmination of all the racing and all the time that went in and actually getting to enjoy that moment.”
As she rounded the finish line, Bosco felt like she could truly celebrate competing in Paris. She felt like she showed the world and herself what she was capable of over the past two weeks.
To celebrate, she planned to explore Paris and go to Disneyland like a Super Bowl champ. Then she’ll compete in the Road World Championships and start thinking about the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics.
“I want to be ready. I want to defend this title in the time trial, and I want to add some more hardware to it,” she said.
Bosco, who lives in California, said she can’t wait to hear fans cheer for Team USA in Los Angeles like they did for the French cyclists in Paris. But what’s most important to her is who will be in her home crowd — those that supported her along the way.
“I want people that are proud of the U.S., proud of our athletes, proud to watch both the Olympics and the Paralympics,” she said. “They're getting to witness greatness with their own eyes and cheer even louder for us than any other country could cheer for their fans, and I get to have everybody that's been part of the journey come.”