1996 Summer Olympics - Atlanta
At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, Van Dyken became the first American female athlete in history to win 4 gold medals in a single Olympic games. Her success in swimming won her 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; induction into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame; induction into the US Olympic Hall of Fame; 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 also featured as one of Glamour magazine's Top 10 Women of the Year, named one of 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 Today, Newsweek, Time, Swimming World magazine, and Sports Illustrated. Van Dyken was a guest on the Late Show with David Letterman, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, and the Today Show. She was featured in a milk ad with a photograph taken by world-renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz, and she was honored with her own Wheaties box.
2000 Summer Olympics - Sydney
She continued to compete after the 1996 Olympics, but was plagued by injury, including a shoulder injury which required several operations and which left her unable to train for over a year. She staged a comeback, however, and made the 2000 US Olympic Team in the 50 meter freestyle, the 4×100 medley relay and the 4×100 freestyle relay. At the Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, Van Dyken won two gold medals in these latter two events, and placed 4th in the 50 meter freestyle. This brought her total career Olympic medal count to 6 gold medals. In addition to her Olympic accomplishments, Van Dyken won several World titles and set numerous American and world records.
Van Dyken has the distinction of being one of the few Olympians whose medals are all gold.
ไม่มีความคิดเห็น:
แสดงความคิดเห็น