Rising To Gold: Higher. Faster. Stronger

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

AMY VAN DYKEN

6-Time Olympic Gold Medalist

THE WILL TO WIN: OVERCOMING THE "IMPOSSIBLE"

Since childhood, Amy Van Dyken’s mantra has been “Who are you to tell me what I can and cannot do?” A six-time Olympic gold medal winner, she was already a role model for underdogs everywhere with her debilitating asthma that had her dragged from the pool during several practices and her potentially career-ending shoulder surgeries that occurred between her first and second Olympics.

But it was her life-threatening spinal cord injury in an ATV accident in 2014, that put her perseverance to the test. With little hope of surviving, and none that she would ever walk again, Amy did survive, and she did walk again. “I’m alive because I’m an athlete,” she said, following her accident. However, it was her “will to win” that saved her life. The same attitude that kept her motivated as she struggled to swim a single lap of the pool, set records, and win the world championships, was the very same attitude required after the accident.

In “The Will to Win,” Amy Van Dyken discusses the need for relentless motivation and overcoming the limits and restraints others put on you – whether it be a coach, a friend, an adversary, yourself, or even your own body. Van Dyken speaks plainly on both the physical and emotional obstacles that she has endured, as well as the emotional coming to terms with her new life and learning to embrace it.

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