AMY VAN DYKEN

Amy Van Dyken was the first American female athlete in history to win four gold medals in a single Olympic games – winning gold in the 50-meter freestyle, 100-meter butterfly, 4x100-meter freestyle relay and 4x100-meter medley relay at the 1996 Summer Olympics. She added two more swimming gold medals at the 2000 Summer Olympics.

Her success in swimming won Amy a wide variety of awards and accolades, including: the ESPN Awards (ESPY) Female Athlete of the Year award; Swimming World magazine's female Swimmer of the Year award and induction into the US Olympic Hall of Fame.  She was named Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year, USOC Sports Woman of the Year, the Women’s Sports Foundation Sports Woman of the Year and USA Swimming Swimmer of the Year.

She was featured as one of Glamour magazine's Top 10 Women of the Year, named one of the 25 most influential females in sport by Women’s Sports and Fitness magazine and received the ARETE Courage in Sports award. She has graced the cover of several newspapers and magazines, including USA TodayNewsweekTime, and Sports Illustrated. And she was honored with her own Wheaties box.

On June 6, 2014, Amy was in a severe ATV accident that severed her spinal cord, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down. Her remarkable spirit, positive outlook and resilient messsage are an inspiration to all! 

6-Time Olympic Gold Medalist in Swimming, Paralyzed in 2014 ATV Accident, Highest-Rated Speaker in AWLF's 20-Year History

Past speaker
Yes