--- description: Olympic gold medalist Amy Van Dyken-Rouen was left "shaking" when she said a security guard at a Texas hotel referred to her as "a cripple." title: Olympian Amy Van Dyken-Rouen Responds to 'Cripple' Comment image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt180f362694e1b92b/69889742cf40a8631bc43915/amy-van-dyken-responds-cripple-comments.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [motto](/tag/motto/) ## motto Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Olympian Amy Van Dyken-Rouen Responds to 'Cripple' Comment by [Scott Stump / TODAY.com](/author/today-com/) ## Scott Stump / TODAY.com Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 10, 2016 3:03 PM CUT  PHOENIX, AZ - JUNE 07: Olympic gold medalist Amy Van Dyken-Rouen reacts after throwing out the ceremonial first pitch before the MLB game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the New York Mets at Chase Field on June 7, 2015 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) PHOENIX, AZ - JUNE 07: Olympic gold medalist Amy Van Dyken-Rouen reacts after throwing out the ceremonial first pitch before the MLB game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the New York Mets at Chase Field on June 7, 2015 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)Christian Petersen/Getty Images by [Scott Stump / TODAY.com](/author/today-com/) ## Scott Stump / TODAY.com Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 10, 2016 3:03 PM CUT Olympic gold medalist Amy Van Dyken-Rouen was left “shaking” on Wednesday when she said a security guard at a Texas hotel referred to her as “a cripple.” Officials at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine are apologizing to the former champion swimmer, who was paralyzed in an ATV accident in 2014, for an incident that occurred when she was returning to her room. “Today was brought by security back to my room and a hotel security guy called Bam Bam said ‘What’s going on here? Escorting the cripples now?!”’ Van Dyken-Rouen, 43, wrote on Instagram. “I’m shaking. I’m sorry my ♿️ buddies… [_Read the rest of the story on TODAY.com_](http://www.today.com/money/hotel-apologizes-amy-van-dyken-rouen-after-employee-calls-her-t97456?cid=par-sm-time "undefined")_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4364174/amy-van-dyken-rouen-cripple-comment/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4364174/amy-van-dyken-rouen-cripple-comment/"},"headline":"Olympian Amy Van Dyken-Rouen Responds to 'Cripple' Comment","datePublished":"2016-06-10T15:03:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:02:42.587Z","description":"The gold medalist was paralyzed in 2004","url":"https://time.com/4364174/amy-van-dyken-rouen-cripple-comment/","keywords":["motto","News"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt180f362694e1b92b/69889742cf40a8631bc43915/amy-van-dyken-responds-cripple-comments.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Scott Stump / TODAY.com"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt180f362694e1b92b/69889742cf40a8631bc43915/amy-van-dyken-responds-cripple-comments.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"New York Mets v Arizona Diamondbacks","caption":"New York Mets v Arizona Diamondbacks","creditText":"Christian Petersen/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4364174/amy-van-dyken-rouen-cripple-comment/","name":"Olympian Amy Van Dyken-Rouen Responds to 'Cripple' Comment"}}]}] ```