Friday, April 26, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
The last time she stepped up to a podium was in January, two days after her husband, bleeding from three bullet wounds, died in her arms.
It was then that grieving widow Nancy Schultz asked the media to respect her family's request for privacy. Hours earlier, millionaire John E. du Pont was arrested and charged with the murder of her husband, Olympic wrestler David Schultz.
Thursday at Circus Circus, Schultz returned to the public eye, this time asking listeners at the 1996 Healthsouth U.S. National Championships press conference to remember her husband not as a tragic figure, but as a source of inspiration.
The Nationals, held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, started this morning and run through Saturday night's finals. David Schultz, an Olympic gold medalist in 1984, would have been the tournament's defending 163-pound champion.
"In the role of his wife, David always said I had to be tough as nails, so I guess I'll do the best I can," Schultz said before reading from a prepared statement.
"I'd like (David's) memory here not to sadden anyone. I'd like to use him as a source of inspiration and strength in his love for wrestling to help motivate and encourage all the athletes of his club to do the very best to reach their dreams, their goals and go for the gold."
Afterward, Schultz spoke with the SUN for her first published interview since the death of her husband. Her only other interview was for a segment to be televised prior to the Olympics.
"It's a very difficult time and I miss David," she said.
But Schultz is not in Las Vegas with her two children to grieve. She is here to help.
She created the David Schultz Wrestling Club to financially assist the wrestlers displaced from the du Pont-sponsored Team Foxcatcher, the same team her husband anchored.
"My concern is not for me but that my presence might sadden or distract some athletes," she said. "I want the purpose of my visit to give them some motivation to do well. My visits may cause some tears to be shed because they see me and feel David is somewhere close by, and that may cause a little pain."
She also came to receive some emotional support.
"It's still a struggle, but I think being here helps rather than making me sadder," she said. "It's less of a struggle here because I have the support. It brings me a lot of happiness and I hope it does them, too."
The Schultzes lived on du Pont's estate in suburban Philadelphia, where David, 36, trained for the Olympics at the chemical company heir's 14,000-foot, $600,000 training facility.
But on a cold day in late January, while sitting in her living room, Nancy Schultz heard gunshots and went to the front door, only to see her husband lying face down outside. She got there in time to witness what she described as a screaming du Pont firing a third shot into her husband.
The events to follow made headlines across the country as the 57-year-old du Pont barricaded himself in his mansion for 48 hours before police were able to arrest him.
The imprisoned du Pont was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday, but proceedings were postponed until May 30 because it has yet to be determined if du Pont is competent to stand trial. His attorneys have requested he be transferred to a psychiatric facility because of deteriorating health. They report their client is eating little and has heart problems.
Schultz declines to discuss the legal issues surrounding du Pont.
"Unfortunately it's a part of my everyday life but I prefer not to focus on that," she said.
Instead, Schultz concentrates on raising two children -- 10-year-old Alexander and 7-year-old Danielle -- while trying to fill the void left by their father's death.
She asked Danielle if she remembered her father competing in Las Vegas. There was an unpromising silence before Danielle excitedly recalled the "great big lion" outside the MGM Grand.
"Danielle may be a little young," Schultz said. "Her memory about (David) competing here isn't too vivid. Alexander has a little bit of the bittersweet taste in his mouth. It's good for him to be around friends, but it's sad not to be around David."
While the life of David Schultz -- husband, father, champion -- will never be replaced, Nancy Schultz is grateful to those who have attempted to relieve her burden.
"In a time I thought I would be alone, I was carried through all this by friends, family and the wrestling community," she said. "It turns out I haven't been alone at all."
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