For Melissa Stockwell, representing america on the worldwide stage means greater than most.
Stockwell served within the Military’s 1st Cavalry Division and was deployed to Iraq to serve within the warfare. She was wounded in a roadside bombing in Baghdad and misplaced a limb. She later acquired the Bronze Star and the Purple Coronary heart.
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Melissa Stockwell (Harry How/Getty Photos/File)
Since 2008, Stockwell has been competing within the Paralympics. First, she competed in swimming earlier than shifting to triathlon. She received a bronze medal within the 2016 Paralympics.
“Placing on that Crew USA uniform on any worldwide athletic stage, I by no means take that without any consideration,” Stockwell informed Fox Information Digital. “I served within the navy. I wore a navy uniform, which is clearly a unique uniform however very related. And now I get to symbolize that nation I defended differently on the world’s largest athletic stage.
“There’s so much that goes on on the planet. I select to only proceed to imagine within the those that stay on this nation. And after I placed on that uniform and I race, it’s for the nation that I’m selecting to imagine in. And it’s for those who have served and have given the last word sacrifice. So, that Crew USA uniform has many meanings.”
Melissa Stockwell of america finishes second within the girls’s triathlon PT2 through the Rio Paralympic Video games on Sept. 11, 2016, in Rio de Janeiro. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Photos)
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Stockwell, who was the recipient of P&G’s Athletes for Good grant for her work by way of the Dare2Tri program, certified for the 2024 Paris Olympics. She received a bronze medal on the 2016 Paralympics.
The Paralympics start Aug. 28 and run by way of Sept. 8.
Stockwell mentioned she’s optimistic about bringing again a medal to america however is aware of it’s not a straightforward job.
“It’s years within the making and each single day I put within the work, put the trouble in, and after I get on that beginning line in Paris, I simply need to belief that what I’ve finished is sufficient,” she mentioned. “It’s not simply race day, what actually issues is what we do each single day.
Melissa Stockwell (Dylan Buell/Getty Photos/File)
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“So, waking up, placing my finest foot ahead, coaching the perfect I can, beginning myself with the perfect staff and simply actually believing in myself and having folks round me that imagine in me.”
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