Donna Schurtz faces a lot of challenges when she competes.
Schurtz vies against athletes half her age, and sometimes she is the only female competitor in her event.
Regardless, for the past 16 years the 41-year-old has earned nearly 200 medals — and 50 of them are gold. If it weren't for the Special Olympics, she says, she wouldn't have become the person she is today: athletic, independent and strong.
Schurtz, from Draper, is among the 1,200 Special Olympics athletes who will compete at the Utah summer games held at Brigham Young University June 3-5.
For Schurtz and many other Special Olympic athletes, participating in the games is not a seasonal hobby. It's a vital part of life.
Schurtz, who is mentally disabled, has competed in all seasonal Utah Special Olympics, from skiing to swimming to softball.
She also competed in Ireland in the summer World Games in 2003 — and is heading to Nagano, Japan, in 2005 to race in downhill skiing.
"Special Olympics is a huge opportunity for her (Donna)," said Janet Donahue, 42, Schurtz's older sister. "I mean the things she will be able to do are things she would never be able to do without Special Olympics, it's amazing. I will never be able to go to places she's been."
Schurtz wanted to be involved in sports but wasn't offered the chance to participate until she was welcomed to join a Special Olympics team from Hartvigsen School in Salt Lake City in the late '80s.
When Schurtz was in high school, she was shuffled from resource class to resource class, she said. She never got a chance to be part of sports in high school.
"I always wanted to do sports," she said, "and Special Olympics gave me the chance to do it all."
Schurtz first competed in the Special Olympics in 1986 at the winter games held in Park City. She won a gold medal in downhill skiing.
"I didn't know it would get as big as it is now," Donahue said, remembering when she first attended an event to support her sister. "I just thought it was a neat activity."
Schurtz said her greatest accomplishment was competing in Ireland for the 2003 World Games. "I kinda did that for my mom, too, because she didn't make it when I went," Schurtz said. Schurtz's mother passed away in 2001.
Schurtz competed in Ireland over a two-week period, winning three medals in the cycling events: bronze in the 40K, silver in the 25K, and gold in the 15K. In those events she was competing with athletes who were mostly in their 20s.
"I think my mom was there watching over me," Schurtz said.
Schurtz's influence extends off the field as well, especially within her family. Her nephew, Shawn Donahue, 7, is autistic, and Schurtz has been a great example for him, said Janet Donahue, his mother.
Shawn can start participating in Special Olympics next year, an opportunity that they learned about through Schurtz, Donahue said.
"Donna has paved the way, so now I know what to do to have more access for him (Shawn)," Donahue said. "She (Donna) definitely has been a huge help."
E-mail: jdoria@desnews.com