Former UCF Rower Sam Bosco Earns Paralympic Gold

ORLANDO – A story of battling through and overcoming adversity on multiple occasions turned into a gold medal for former UCF rower Samanth Bosco (nee Heinrich) at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. She earned a first-place finish in the women’s C4 individual time trial on Wednesday morning while representing the United States in cycling.

Bosco’s story and journey to her Paralympic gold medal, began far from racing in rowing regattas for the Knights.

Born in Anchorage, Alaska, Bosco was born with a bowed tibia in her right leg. She began cycling with her dad at 7 years old. At 11 years of age, she underwent three years of surgeries to fix her leg-length discrepancy from the bowed tibia. The surgery to lengthen her right leg two and a half inches didn’t go as planned, eventually leaving her with permanent damage to her leg.

The damage left her unable to ride a bike, causing her to explore other sports. Bosco eventually earned a full athletic scholarship with the Knights, rowing for two seasons from 2005-07. She rowed in the V8, V4 and JV8 boats while donning the Black and Gold. However, her injury caused her to retire from the sport after her sophomore season.

After retiring from the water, she got her wheels rolling again via an adapted bike, allowing Bosco to find her love of cycling again. She began on road races as opposed to mountain biking. Two years after her return to her bike, she discovered paracycling.

Bosco found success in paracycling, reaching her first world championship in 2013 before earning a pair of bronze medals at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympic Games. In 2019, after discovering nerve damage and still competing at a high level, she was nominated for the Best Female Athlete with a Disability award at the ESPYs. Three days after being named to the Team USA roster for the 2021 Tokyo Games, Bosco suffered a traumatic brain injury and two skull fractures, forcing her out of the Games. She bounced back stronger than ever, winning every paracycling road race she entered in 2022, becoming a double world champion in Baie-Comeau, Canada in August of that year.

Including her gold medal at this summer’s Paralympic Games, Bosco now boasts three Paralympic medals as well as four golds in road world championships to go along with three silvers and two bronzes in track world championships. All her road and track world championship medals came after her traumatic injury.

UCF had six total Olympians compete at this Summer’s Games in Paris, including three Varsity Knights. Two of them, Viktorija Senkute and Julie Poulsen, were former rowers for the Black and Gold. Senkute earned a bronze medal in women’s single sculls, the only medal for her home country of Lithuania throughout the most recent Olympics.