What Happened to Olympian Amy Van Dyken? She Suffered a Cruel Accident but Has an Amazing Outlook

Swimming fans have seen Amy Van Dyken help to cover the Olympics in Paris during the 2024 Summer Games.

Many will recall that Amy won six gold medals in swimming over the course of her career.

Then in 2014, the athlete endured a life-altering accident that left her paralyzed from the waist down. Read on to find out what happened to Amy, and how she is turning a negative into a positive in her life today.

Amy accomplished some amazing feats during her Olympic career.

In 1996 in Atlanta, she became the first female athlete to win four gold medals in just one Olympics, per her bio.

Amy won two more golds in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, bringing her medal count to six!

In 2014, an all-terrain vehicle accident left Amy paralyzed from the waist down after her spine was severed.

Talking to Oprah Winfrey, the inspiring Olympian opened up about her mindset following her injuries, which she nearly died from.

“I’ve never been angry that I’m like this," Amy said in a profile for Oprah.com. "I’ve never looked back and said, ‘I woulda, shoulda, coulda, what if?’ Because ‘What if?’ didn’t happen. This happened. This happened for a reason.”

But Amy also admitted, “Sure, there are days when I wake up and I’m in so much pain I can’t even handle it, and there are days when it is so hard to get in and out of this chair that it’s just ridiculous, and there are days when I am sad.”

Amy's Army is an organization that was inspired by the Olympian's experiences. The group procures and donate wheelchairs to kids who have spinal cord injuries or deformities.

"I feel like I'm here for a bigger reason — that I'm on borrowed time – and I don't want my last minutes to be known for complaining," Amy said.

To that end, she is also a motivational speaker — and sports commentator.

Amy shared pictures and video from her time in Paris covering the 2024 Summer Games, and of course specifically, swimming.

The gold medalist gave Torri Huske a shoutout for winning gold in the 100 meter butterfly, an event that stands as Amy's most memorable accomplishment.

"I had been working a lot on that event, but it had never really come together," Amy told Forbes in 2012 about her 1996 win. "I made the team, and instant talks about me pulling out to let someone else swim began."

"I wasn’t the best in this event in the country, not to mention the world, but I knew I had made the team in this event for a reason," Amy went on to say. "I had time to get my butterfly up to board … and I worked so hard on it."

Amy continued, "In the end, I won gold in the flipping Olympics! I was stunned, everyone was stunned. I knew in that moment that this Olympics was going to be something special for me."

"If I won my worst event, what would happen when I swam my best ever?" she wondered. "Then history was made. I became the first American woman to win four gold medals in a single Olympics. It’s only been tied, not broken. So, that 100m butterfly means the world to me for several reasons."