If you get a chance to watch the 2019 Special

Olympics World Games coming up next month in Abu Dhabi –

halfway around the globe in a very different climate – look for

the smiling athlete with very bright “electric blue” hair.

That will be Pinedale triathlete Melanie Holmes, who wants

to be sure she stands out. Holmes and two other Special Olympics

athletes are the only three from Wyoming selected to compete

in the international games – set for the first time in the

sunny United Arab Emirates beside the sparkling Persian Gulf.

Holmes is usually a snowshoe racer at Wyoming’s regional

and state Winter Games. She took time off this winter because

she is training for a new sport – rather, new sports – the triathlon

event of swimming, bicycling and running. This is the first

year it is an official event.

Melanie learned last summer she would compete in the triathlon.

First, she will make an 800-meter open swim in the

Persian Gulf, then race 20 kilometers on her bicycle and finish

up with a 5K run. She will also compete in another 10K bicycle

race in Dubai.

Her mother Jennifer Holmes explained that this Special

Olympics World Games is the first in Abu Dhabi, the cosmopolitan

capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The place has

special meaning for this family – Melanie’s grandfather Allan

Holmes worked for Dubai Petroleum for years before retiring

as a drilling consultant.

“He is very familiar with the region and is very excited

about Mel going over there,” Jennifer explained. Although she

would love to travel along, she works here as a Sublette County

dispatcher.

More than 7,000 athletes arrive from around the world to

compete from March 14 to 21. The schedule isn’t set yet so

Jennifer and Melanie are not exactly sure when she competes.

What was Melanie’s first thought last summer when she

learned she was chosen?

“I need to start training!”

Coaches at the Pinedale Aquatic Center started her on a

training program and she swims there often. Sometimes she

uses an underwater treadmill at Proactive, which is easier on

the knees and back, and she has a treadmill at home. But much

of her training now takes place at The Garage Gym with owner

and coach Ranae Pape, she said.

“Ranae got her started with endurance raining,” Jennifer

said. “Melanie moved over (to The Garage Gym) for more

personalized training like weightlifting and CrossFit. Ranae

incorporates a lot of different activities so she doesn’t get bored

with it.”

Working out for eight months, an hour or two a day, six days

a week, has brought Melanie real fitness and strength, keeping

up that pace with her work at the Sublette County Clerk of

District Court Office.

Training for the World Games has brought changes – Melanie

has increased her protein and water intakes and eats more

fruit, vegetables and lean meat.

“She lost weight and gained muscle,” her mother added.

The adventure has both mother and daughter very excited,

although Jennifer will stay in Pinedale to work and watch from

afar. Melanie leaves on March 3 to meet her World Games

teammates and coach in New York City. They will travel together

to Washington, D.C., and then on to Abu Dhabi where

she stays with a host family for several days and then bunks

with athletes from around the world.

“She’s a very good traveler; she never gets lost,” her mother

said. “It is a very modern country. I have no qualms about her

going over there – about her safety – at all. I’m excited, not

nervous.”

Melanie herself is not at all nervous about anything – trying

new foods, meeting new people and making new friends.

She is not even nervous about competing – she is just “excited!”

Mom is sending along a camera and journal and will keep in

touch about this adventure.

“She is very committed,” Jennifer said. “I am very proud of

her. I want her to go over and do her best. I want her to go over

and have a good time.”

One last item to check off before she leaves – dyeing Melanie’s

blonde hair that very bright shade of “electric blue.”

For more about the 2019 Special Olympics World Games

and to watch for Melanie Holmes, visit www.abudhabi2019.

org or www.specialolympics.org.