Dickson navigates a boulder at Stone Fort, in Soddy Daisy, Tennessee. Photographs courtesy of Ronnie Dickson.
The 13th Annual Athletes with Disabilities Network (ADN) Hall of Fame has announced the 2011 inductees. The ADN Hall of Fame “recognizes and honors men and women who have overcome physical challenges to become elite athletes and superior role models.” The induction ceremony and awards dinner will be held November 3, at the Troy Marriott, Michigan.
Ronnie Dickson has been selected as the Mark “Doc” Andrews Rising Star Award recipient. As a teenager, Dickson underwent a transfemoral amputation as a result of Trevor’s disease. Not long after his amputation, he discovered rock climbing, and five months later claimed second place in the Extremity Games’ bouldering competition. Dickson also took up running and cycling, and has competed in several triathlons as part of the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF) team. He now volunteers regularly at CAF events, mentors new amputee climbers and runners, and has served as a counselor and rock-climbing teacher at the Amputee Coalition’s Paddy Rossbach Youth Camp.
Palmiero-Winters crosses the Badwater Ultramarathon finish line. Photograph courtesy of AdventureCorps.
Amy Palmiero-Winters has been selected as the Pat McDonald Female Athlete of the Year. Palmiero-Winters, a transtibial amputee as a result of a motorcycle accident, is an internationally ranked athlete. Her most recent accomplishments include becoming the first female amputee to finish California’s 2011 Badwater Ultramarathon; in 2010 she became the first amputee to qualify for a U.S. national track and field team, allowing her to compete in the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) 24-hour Ultramarathon World Championships-she finished 18th in the female division; and in 2010 she also became the first amputee to finish California’s 100-mile Western States Endurance Run.
Other inductees include Bobby McMullen and Davide Lee, National Hall of Fame; Michael Henry, Michigan Hall of Fame; the Detroit Lions, Tony Filippis Sr. Corporate Leadership Award; Shawn Kornoelje, Rick Knas Lifetime Achievement Award; and Tucker Dupree, Roger McCarville Male Athlete of the Year.
