Amy Palmiero-Winters becomes first amputee to win AAU Sullivan Award as top amateur athlete

From USA Today:

Ultra-marathoner Amy Palmiero-Winters (pictured), who had her left leg amputated below the knee after a 1994 motorcycle accident, won the AAU Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete April 14.

Palmiero-Winters, of Hicksville, N.Y., will represent the USA in an ultrarunners world championship in May and is the first amputee named to a U.S. national team, according to USA Track & Field.

Palmiero-Winters set world records for amputee women at several distances as an ultra-marathoner. She won the Arizona Road Racers 24-hours Run to the Future (130.4 miles), beating all able-bodied entrants. She also completed the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon and Ironman Malaysia.

Finalists included NCAA track champion Angela Bizzarri of Illinois; Zak Boggs, South Florida soccer; Erin Hamlin, luger; Megan Hodge, Penn State volleyball; and Clint Moore, Army baseball.