For more than two decades, FOX Sports has embraced with extreme gratitude and honor the opportunity to showcase its unwavering commitment for our U.S. military on Veterans Day.
Furthering that commitment, FOX Sports Supports – the social impact arm of FOX Sports – is sharing the inspiring story of U.S. Army veteran and three-time Paralympian, Melissa Stockwell and her connection to its non-profit partner Angel City Sports.
Angel City Sports provides year-round free adaptive sports opportunities to kids, adults and veterans with physical disabilities or visual impairments.
Angel City Sports is honoring Melissa with its inaugural Angela Madsen Courage Award during its “Evening of Courage” event on Veterans Day. Melissa embodies the spirit of the late Angela Madsen – a veteran, Paralympian, mentor, community leader, and longtime friend of Angel City Sports.
Angela passed away while attempting to row the Pacific Ocean solo from California to Hawaii. She would have been the first rower with paraplegia, and the oldest (60), to accomplish the feat.
About Melissa Stockwell:
After graduating from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2002, Melissa Stockwell was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army’s transportation corps. One month after being deployed to Iraq, in April 2004, she became the first female American soldier in history to lose a limb in active combat after her vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb. She was honored with a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for her service. Four years later, she became the first Iraq War veteran to qualify for the Paralympic Games, competing in swimming at the Beijing 2008 Paralympics. She was selected to be the flag bearer for Team USA at the Beijing closing ceremonies.
After Beijing, Stockwell shifted her focus to triathlon and made her elite International Triathlon Union debut in 2009, earning three consecutive world titles from 2010-2012. In 2016, she earned a spot on the inaugural U.S. paratriathlon team for the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio where she earned a bronze medal, sharing the podium as part of a U.S. sweep with silver medalist Hailey Danz and gold medalist Allysa Seely.
Stockwell was a flag bearer for Team USA at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics where she competed in triathlon, just eight weeks after fracturing her back in a biking accident.
Stockwell is a co-founder of the Chicago-based Dare2tri Paratriathlon Club, a USA Triathlon Level I certified coach and serves on the board of directors for the Wounded Warriors Project, USA Triathlon Foundation and the USA Triathlon Women’s Committee. She is a licensed prosthetist and currently resides in Colorado Springs with her husband and two children.
About Angel City Sports:
Angel City Sports provides year-round free adaptive sports opportunities for kids, adults and veterans with physical disabilities or visual impairments. In addition to providing free equipment, coaching and competitive opportunities – Angel City focuses on how every individual can reach their full potential and unlock their dreams through music, art, higher education and career opportunities.
About FOX Sports Supports:
FOX Sports Supports is a company-wide philanthropic program dedicated to harnessing the power of sports for transformative social impact. Since 2008, FOX Sports Supports has significantly helped more than 80 organizations in the U.S. by mobilizing its resources through employee engagement, charitable contributions and creating awareness across FOX Sports’ family of linear and digital properties, to achieve its mission of creating and advancing fighting chances for underserved youth and our military heroes.
