Like Us on Facebook

Six-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer Amy Van Dyken Rouen suffered injuries to her back in an all-terrain accident in Show Low, Arizona.

41-year-old Van Dyken Rouen had been airlifted to the Osborn Medical Center Sunday in Scottsdale. Tom Rouen, Amy's husband and former Denver Broncos punter said that she had suffered a broken back.

According to Show Low police, they responded to a 911 call concerning Amy's accident at 7:55 p.m. Friday at the Torreon Golf Club. They found her conscious but could not feel her legs and had trouble breathing.

A witness who called 911 said that she saw Van Dyken Rouen "launch over" a curb while driving an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) at the Torreon parking lot.

Both the Van Dyken and Rouen families released letters saying that Amy severed her spinal cord at the T11 vertebrae which came millimeters of rupturing her aorta.

Van Dyken Rouen became the first American female athlete in history to have won four Olympic gold medals in a single Olympic games. She achieved this feat while competing in the 1996 Summer Olympics held in Atlanta, Georgia. She later went on to compete in the 2000 Summer Olympic Games held in Sydney, Australia after recovering from several shoulder operations and eventually won two additional gold medals in the 4x100 medley relay and the 4x100 freestyle relay.

During her accomplishments in the 1996 Olympics, she has been named the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year, United States Olympic Commission Sports Woman of the Year and the Women's Sports Foundation Sports Woman of the Year. She has been awarded ESPN's Female Athlete of the Year and Swimming World magazine's Female Swimmer of the Year.

Adding to her list of achievements, she has also been inducted to the Olympic Hall of Fame and the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame.

Tagsswimming, atlanta, swimmer, colorado, Arizona