Tuesday, Dec. 31, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
The timing was perfect for Amy Van Dyken, and she made the most of it.
On a U.S. Olympic swimming team expected to be swamped by faster athletes from China, Australia and Germany, Van Dyken was seen as a fringe player, perhaps good enough for a silver or bronze medal and a leg in a relay or two.
But America's swimmers turned into the overachievers of the Summer Games, and nobody outdid the predictions like Van Dyken.
In fact, no U.S. woman ever did what the 24-year-old from Englewood, Colo., achieved in Atlanta.
Van Dyken became the first woman from the United States to win four gold medals in a single Olympics, finishing first in the 50-meter freestyle and 100 butterfly and swimming legs on the championship 400 freestyle and 400 medley relay teams.
That unprecedented performance, in an Olympics in which women held the spotlight more than ever before, produced another victory for Van Dyken today. She was picked as The Associated Press female athlete of the year.
Nationwide balloting by the AP's print and broadcast members gave Van Dyken 191 points and 45 of the 165 first-place votes. Second was another Olympic gold medalist, gymnast Kerri Strug, with 34 first-place votes and 159 points, followed by tennis star Steffi Graf, with 27 first-place votes and 142 points.
Another producer of unprecedented gold-medal feats was named Monday as the AP's male athlete of 1996. Michael Johnson, the first man to win the 200 and 400 meters in a single games, was the easy winner over golfer Tiger Woods. Johnson's performance earlier was picked as the AP story of the year.
Anything less than two gold medals for Johnson would have been a major upset; officials even altered the traditional Olympic track schedule to enable him to compete in both events.
No one expected anything close to a record-setting Olympics from Van Dyken, though.
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