SAM ZAKUTNEY
Sport: Gymnastics
Event: Men’s Artistic
Age: 25
Hometown: Ottawa
Residence: Montreal
Local Club: National Capital / Ottawa Gymnastics Centre
First Olympics
Instagram: @samzak06
VIEW SAM’S COMPETITION SCHEDULE HERE.
By Adam Beauchemin
Now settled in the Olympic Village, Sam Zakutney is starting to realize that his long-held dream is about to become real.
The 25-year-old Ottawa gymnast is set to compete at the 2024 Olympic Summer Games in Paris, where Canada will end a 16-year absence in men’s artistic team competition.
“This is the first time since 2008 that gymnastics has sent a full men’s team, so we’re really trying to make the most of every opportunity here,” Zakutney notes. “The guys are looking good, so we’re ready to do a great job.”
Zakutney’s road to the Olympics started with the National Capital program in Nepean, where he began competing at age 8, and he clinched his berth to the Olympics in the capital region too.
Zakutney, who also represented the Ottawa Gymnastics Centre before moving to Montreal, earned his spot on Canada’s Olympic team with an all-around performance that put him solidly inside the top-four at June’s Canadian Championships in Gatineau.
He underlines, however, that the journey to this high point in his career hasn’t always been easy.
Since 2021, Zakutney has dealt with multiple major injuries, including a torn pectoralis major muscle, a ruptured ACL knee ligament and multiple tears in his right meniscus.
But, even tougher than dealing with the injuries was making the decision to become a full-time athlete once he graduated from Penn State University.
“I’d been a student-athlete for almost my entire life,” recounts the member of the Nittany Lions NCAA men’s gymnastics team. “Then once I graduated from Penn, I knew that I wanted to really give the gym the most attention that I could.”
Zakutney graduated from Penn State in 2020 with a double bachelor’s degree in biomedical and mechanical engineering. Rather than pursue a career in his field of study, Zakutney chose to bet on himself and throw all his energy into gymnastics.
“That was a very stressful decision, knowing that all of my friends are now working the typical nine-to-five and they’re thinking about the rest of their lives, and I’m still kind of chasing my dream,” he highlights.
Now, making his first ever Olympics comes as a massive payoff to a years-long journey built upon a leap of faith.
“Sometimes it can seem almost delusional to some people, but now that I’m here, and now that I actually am living the dream that I’ve always wanted, it’s just so rewarding,” underlines Zakutney, who trains for roughly four hours a day with stretching, conditioning, equipment and cardio work.
Arriving at the Olympic Village was a “pinch-me” kind of moment for Zakutney after countless hours of preparation.
“It’s definitely hitting me more now than it did when I first found out that I made the team,” indicates the Franco-Cité high school grad. “We got to Paris, we got into the Village, got our accreditation, all of our gear, and seeing all the signs everywhere — is a lot. It’s a very overwhelming amount of signs that it’s happening in real time.”
One of the first things Zakutney did upon arriving at the Village was to acquire memorabilia. He’s already traded items with athletes from the Netherlands, Ireland, Slovakia and Germany.
As he walks around the Village, Zakutney has also been reflecting on the support he’s received from many people throughout his gymnastics career. He says that making the Olympics is his way of thanking them.
“I take it upon myself to really honour everybody from the entire journey that really saw something in me,” Zakutney explains. “Being here, it’s like a kudos or a thank you to them.”
Zakutney will be among the first athletes to compete after the Olympic flame is lit in Paris, with Team Canada set to compete in qualifications Saturday morning.
“Once I get onto the comp floor and I start competing, that’s when I can officially say that I am an Olympian,” he states. “I’m here and I have all the gear to prove it, but it’s not until I do my job that I feel like I deserve the title.”
COMPETITION SCHEDULE:
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