Colorado Champions Road to Gold: Paralympian juggles triathlon and parenting in the weeks leading up to Paris
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - Athletes dedicate countless hours to their sport, and that can really ramp up before a big event like the Olympics and Paralympics.
For one Colorado Springs triathlete, training for Paris isn't the only priority. Melissa Stockwell is also a full-time wife and mom. To say that life is busy juggling it all would be an understatement.
"All eyes on Paris, says triathlete and Paralympian, Melisa Stockwell. "My days revolve around sports and training and trying to be the best athlete I can be, at the end of the day I'm mom also."
Stockwell is constantly flipping between mom mode and athlete mode. Which often calls for an afternoon of painting with her two kids and husband after a busy day of workouts.
"A lot of times I have to get out there and train when they are at camps or I have 5 hours to fit in my swim my bike and my strength so it's back to back to back and I do what I can and then I come home and I put on the mom hat," says Stockwell.
Stockwell is about to be a 4-time Paralympian. She won bronze in the 2016 Summer Rio Games and hopes to be back on the podium in Paris.
What's extra special about this Paralympics is that her family will be there cheering her on.
"I am so excited for my family to be there," says Stockwell. "Tokyo was a COVID game, no family was there and no one in the stands so now my kids are 6 and 9 and to have them on the race course, the go mommy go that they scream. I can't tell you how much that means and how much that pushes me on the course."
Stockwell is a mom, Team USA triathlete, and war hero. She lost her leg after a vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2004. Ever since the accident, sports became her new focus.
"You swim you bike you run," says Stockwell. "We have a wetsuit we wear and we have prosthetics we wear and bikes and hope for no flat tires. There's so many variables which is kind of what makes it exciting and fun because on race day you have to trust in your training that everything you've done leading up to it is good enough for that moment."
Triathlon is high effort, and high energy every single day.
"I think you expect the unexpected and when you finish the race without any incidents you are like yes, we did it, it worked," says Stockwell.
For Stockwell, she's never just done for the day after practice or a race. She's got her family life to prioritize. And the four of them, together, are counting down to the Paris Paralympics.
"I hope that they are old enough that they'll remember this for the rest of their life and they'll remember mommy competing at the Paralympic Games and we got to go and be there and see it and the Eiffel Tower was right there and we are in Paris," says Stockwell. "For all of us, it is going to be pretty awesome."
