Six-time Olympic gold medalist Amy Van Ryken Rouen has been discharged from a hospital after she broke her back during an all-terrain vehicle accident in Colorado in June.

"It's been a lot of smiles, and a lot of laughs," said the swimmer. "It's been a lot of work, absolutely."

Rouen became the first American female athlete in history to have won four Olympic gold medals at the Atlanta Games in 1996.

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She later went on to compete in the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney after recovering from several shoulder operations and eventually won two additional gold medals in the 4x100 medley relay and the 4x100 freestyle relay.

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

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

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

During her press conference Thursday, Rouen said there were many challenges during her recovery, but the biggest one was going back to the swimming pool.

"The first time I went into the swimming pool was the hardest thing," she said.

She was told that they were doing therapy to rehabilitate the spinal cord injury.

"I'm not doing therapy, I'm doing laps," Rouen added.

TagsDenver Broncos, Tom Rouen, therapy, Olympic Games, Toreon Golf Club