Olympic Gymnast Shawn Johnson has another accolade to add to her resume – she was awarded the AAU Sullivan award this evening at the New York Athletic Club in New York City. (Photo – AAU Sullivan Award winner Shawn Johnson seen here with Mitchell Musso on the set of DWTS from Flickr)

There were five finalists for this year’s award – Shawn Johnson, fellow Olympic gymnast Nastia Liukin, Volleyball player Cynthia Barboza, Basketball player Tyler Hansborough, and the members of the US men’s Olympic 4×100 swimming team.

The AAU Sullivan award is considered to be the Oscar’s of the sports world. It is used to recognize outstanding amateur athletes who show excellence in their sport, leadership, character and sportsmanship.

Congratulations Shawn!

Olympic Swimmer Dara Torres made the sports world sit up and take notice last summer when she made the US Olympic Swimming team at age 41, and proceeded to win 3 silver medals in Beijing. Eight months later, Dara released her memoirs entitled, Age is Just a Number: Achieve Your Dreams At Any Stage In Your Life.

From Universal Sports:

Torres, eight months removed from her performance in Beijing during which she won three silver medals, released her memoirs on Tuesday. “Age Is Just A Number,” which she co-wrote with New York Times Magazine contributing writer Elizabeth Weil, takes a walk through her entire swimming career — from when she was a teenager living in California and then as a student-athlete at the University of Florida, to her three comebacks as an adult.

She revisits past successes — setting world and American records, winning Olympic medals — and talks about the more difficult times in her life too. During her four years as a swimmer at Florida, she became bulimic. She’s dealt with two divorces, the death of her father and fertility problems. Michael Lohberg, the coach who guided Torres during her comeback for the Beijing Games, was stricken with a serious illness and was unable to travel to China for the Olympics.

Dara’s successes have obviously come at a price.  I think it takes a very special person to be able to face adversities in life and continue to follow and achieve their dreams. While Dara’s comeback was certainly not without controversy, her story is still remarkable and inspirational

Age is Just a Number is definitely going to be on my summer reading list!

Olympic gymnast, Alicia Sacramone, has been having way too much fun recently! Last month she got to drop the puck at a Boston Bruins NHL hockey game and this weekend she is at  the NBA All Star Game (Sunday, February 15 @ 8)  as a “reporter” offering an inside look into her Quest for G activities at the event. She’ll be hanging out with Dwyane Wade, interviewing the Jabbawockeez and reporting from the red carpet.

You can see some great behind the scenes footage of Quest for G – the Gatorade ad series she is in. Hear what Kevin Garnett, Derek Jeter and Usain Bolt have to say about recreating Monty Python and the Holy Grail at the Quest for the G site.

Also check out www.MissionG.com this weekend to see videos of Alicia at the event. For every person that visits the site this weekend, $1 will be donated to charity (up to $25K).

Alicia’s great personality and relaxed on screen attitude are sure to keep her quest for Hollywood going strong.

Photo (Flickr)