Melissa Stockwell (born January 31, 1980) is an American two-time Paralympic triathlete, swimmer and former U.S. Army officer. Competing in the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...

in three swimming events, she returned to race in the

2016 Paralympic Games ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

and won a bronze medal in the inaugural

triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the t ...

event on September 11, 2016.

Military career

She joined the

ROTC The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. Overview While ROTC graduate officers serve in all ...

at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

in her sophomore year and was a senior in college when the

September 11, 2001 attack The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks The following is a list of terrorist incidents that have not been carried out by a state or its forces (see state terrorism and st ...

happened. She had Transportation Officer Basic Course training in Virginia before being assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division at

Fort Hood, Texas Fort Hood is a United States Army post located near Killeen, Texas. Named after Confederate General John Bell Hood, it is located halfway between Austin and Waco, about from each, within the U.S. state of Texas. The post is the headquarter ...

. She was deployed in March 2004 to Iraq. A first lieutenant, she was the first female soldier to lose a limb in the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

. She lost her left leg when a

roadside bomb An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mechan ...

exploded when she was leading a convoy in Baghdad. For her service in Iraq she was awarded the

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

and the

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, w ...

. Following her retirement from the military she works as a prosthetist and served on the board of directors of the Wounded Warrior Project from 2005 to 2014.

Sport

She subsequently became the first Iraq veteran chosen for the

Paralympics The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaired ...

. She competed in three swimming events, the 100 m butterfly, 100 m freestyle, and 400 m freestyle, at the

, and finished sixth, fifth, and fourth in her heats, respectively. She was the U.S. team's flag bearer at the closing ceremonies. Turning to

after the Beijing Paralympics, Stockwell was selected to represent the US in the 2010 ITU Paratriathlon World Championships in Budapest. She won the Women's TRI-2 (above knee amputee) class, then successfully defended her TRI-2 World Champion title in 2011 and 2012. She is a multiple US National Paratriathlon Champion in her classification, and was named USAT Paratriathlete of the Year in 2010 and 2011. Stockwell is at the top of the ITU's rankings in the women's TRI-2 class. She won a bronze medal in the PT2 category at the 2016 Paralympics. Stockwell is a Level 1 USAT Triathlon coach and co-founder of Dare2Tri, a Chicago-based triathlon club specifically for athletes with disability.

Filmography

* '' Warrior Champions: From Baghdad to Beijing'', a

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

by directors Brent Renaud and

Craig Renaud __NOTOC__ Craig may refer to: Geology *Craig (landform), a rocky hill or mountain often having large casims or sharp intentations. People (and fictional characters) *Craig (surname) *Craig (given name) Places Scotland *Craig, Angus, aka Barony of ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stockwell, Melissa 1980 births Living people American amputees American female freestyle swimmers American female triathletes United States Army personnel of the Iraq War Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Paralympic bronze medalists for the United States Paralympic medalists in paratriathlon Paralympic swimmers of the United States Paratriathletes of the United States Paratriathletes at the 2016 Summer Paralympics People from Grand Haven, Michigan Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Paralympics United States Army officers Women in the Iraq War Women in the United States Army Triathlon coaches 21st-century American women Sportspeople from Michigan