Amy van dyken accident

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Amy Van Dyken

American Olympic champion swimmer (b. 1973)

Amy Deloris Van Dyken-Rouen (born February 15, 1973) is an American former competitive swimmer, Olympic champion, former world record-holder, and national radio sports talk show co-host. She won six Olympic gold medals in her career, four of which she won at the 1996 Summer Olympics, making her the first American woman to accomplish such a feat and the most successful athlete at the 1996 Summer Olympics. She won gold in the 50-meter freestyle, 100-meter butterfly, 4×100-meter freestyle relay, and 4×100-meter medley relay.

Van Dyken had severe asthma throughout her childhood and into adulthood. She began swimming on the advice of a doctor as a way to strengthen her lungs to cope with her condition and prevent future asthma attacks.

She was named Swimming World'sAmerican Swimmer of the Year in 1995 and 1996.

On June 6, 2014, Van Dyken was injured in a serious ATV accident that severed her spinal cord, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down.

Early life

At the 1992 U.S. Olympic Trials, Van Dyken

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Amy van Dyken [1973]

Amy Van Dyken is an American Olympic athlete, and has won six career gold medals in Butterfly and Free Style swimming. Four of these gold medals came in the 1996 Summer Olympics held in Atlanta, Georgia. This singular achievement in 1996, when she was 23 years old, made her the first American female to win four gold medals in a single Olympic Games. Four years later, when she was 27 years old, in the Summer Olympic Games at Sydney, Australia she won two more gold medals, thus giving her a total of six gold medals in the Olympics, an unusual and dramatic achievement.

What made the above Olympic achievements even more remarkable was the fact that Amy is an asthmatic, who suffered from severe asthma throughout her childhood and into adulthood. She took up the sport of swimming at the advice of her doctor who felt that the sport of swimming would strengthen her lungs, and enable her to cope with the asthmatic condition.

Amy began her swimming career as a high school student in Greenwood Village, Colorado. During her high school days she became the

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Amy Van Dyken

Amy Van Dyken is an Olympic champion swimmer with six gold medals to her name. At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, Van Dyken became the first American female athlete in history to win four gold medals in a single Olympic games. She won gold in the 50 meter free, 100 meter butterfly, 4 x 100 meter freestyle relay and the 4 x 100 meter medley relay. After experiencing much athletic success, in June of 2014, tragedy struck when Van Dyken was injured in an ATV accident and severed her spinal cord, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down.
Although she endured grueling days in rehabilitation, she stayed positive and fought through the hardships, inspiring others to stay strong and accomplish their goals.

Following a doctor's advice, Van Dyken began swimming at the age of six in an effort to relieve childhood asthma. At eleven, she was still unable to swim the length of a pool. When she finally made it, Van Dyken knew she had a strong "will to win." That strength made her a star in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, despite the fact that breathing difficult