Disability Law

Amy Palmiero-Winters Wins 2009 Sullivan Award

By Patrick Hindert

Amy Palmiero-Winters, ultramarathoner and lower-leg amputee, has been named the winner of the 2009 James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States.

The Sullivan Award is presented annually by the American Amateur Athletic Union (AAU).

Palmeiro-Winters competed in 10 ultra-distance races in 2009. On December 31, 2009, she won the 130 mile "Race to the Future" thereby qualifying for the Team USA roster at the 2010 International Association of Ultrarunners' 24-hour Run 2010 World Championship.

Palmeiro-Winters joins Jim Abbott (1987) as disabled persons who have won this prestigious award. Abbott, a University of Michigan graduate and former major league pitcher, was born without a right hand.

Other track and field stars who have won the Sullivan award include: Carl Lewis, Bruce Jenner, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Joan Benoit Samuelson, Mary Decker, Florence Griffith-Joyner, Rafer Johnson, Frank Shorter and Edwin Moses.

Related websites

• Amy Palmiero-Winters
  • Website
  • Google search
  • USA Track & Field
  • Photos
  • YouTube video
  • AAU News
  • Sullivan Awards photo gallery
• Sullivan Award
  • Website
  • Wikipedia
  • Google search

Prior S2KM reporting about disabled athletes:

• Interview with Randy Stone
• NAELA Special Needs Summit - honoring Dick Traum of Achilles International

Full post as published by Beyond Structured Settlements on April 15, 2010 (boomark / email).