Invictus Games

Invictus Games

Motto	I AM
First event	2014
Headquarters	London, United Kingdom
Website	invictusgames.org

Medals from London 2014

The Invictus Games is an international Paralympic-style^[1] multi-sport event, created by Prince Harry of the Commonwealth Realms, in which wounded, injured or sick armed services personnel and their associated veterans take part in sports including wheelchair basketball, sitting volleyball, and indoor rowing.^[1] Named after Invictus, Latin for "unconquered" or "undefeated", the event was inspired by the Warrior Games, a similar event held in the United States. The first Invictus Games took place in 2014 at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London, United Kingdom.

The 2014 opening ceremony was attended by Prince Harry, Prime Minister David Cameron, Prince Charles, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Prince William, and Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark. The event also included a recorded message from First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama.^[2]

The second games opened on 8 May 2016 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World, near Orlando, Florida, United States. The opening ceremony was attended by Prince Harry, First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama, former American President George W. Bush and many other dignitaries. Then–U.S. President Barack Obama and Queen Elizabeth II helped make a promotional video for the 2016 event.^[3]

The 2017 games will be held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.^[4]

Launch

The Games were launched on 6 March 2014 by Prince Harry at London's Copper Box arena, used as a venue during the 2012 Olympics. Having seen a British team competing at the US Warrior Games held in Colorado in 2013, the prince wished to bring the concept of a similar international sporting event to the United Kingdom.^[5][6][7][8] With the backing of Mayor of London Boris Johnson, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Ministry of Defence, the event was put together over ten months.^[1][9] £1m of funding for the project was provided by the Royal Foundation, a charity established by Prince Harry along with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, with an equal amount being pledged by Chancellor George Osborne from Treasury funds generated by fines imposed on banks as a result of the Libor scandal.^[1][10] The Games were also sponsored by Jaguar Land Rover.^[8] Speaking at the launch, the prince said that the Games would "demonstrate the power of sport to inspire recovery, support rehabilitation and demonstrate life beyond disability".^[11] He also said that their long-term objective was to ensure injured troops are not forgotten as Britain's involvement with the War in Afghanistan comes to an end.^[1][12]

Host cities

2014

2017

2016

2018

Host cities of the Invictus Games

Year	City	Country	Continent	Venue	Nations participating	Opening Ceremony	Closing Ceremony
2014	London	United Kingdom	Europe	Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park	14	000000002017-09-10-0000September 10	000000002017-09-14-0000September 14
2015	No games held in 2015 to allow time for the 2016 host, Orlando, to plan and raise funds.[13]
2016	Orlando	United States	North America	ESPN Wide World of Sports	15	000000002017-05-08-0000May 8	000000002017-05-12-0000May 12
2017	Toronto	Canada		Multiple venues across Greater Toronto	16	000000002017-09-23-0000September 23	000000002017-09-30-0000September 30
2018	Sydney	Australia	Oceania	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA

Invictus Games Foundation

The Invictus Games Foundation was created as the legacy of the first-ever Invictus Games. It governs the process of the future Games. The bidding process for future games started in November 2014.^[14]

Governance

The people who Govern the Foundation are:^[15]

• Patron: HRH Prince Harry KCVO
• Chairman: Sir Keith Mills GBE

Trustees

• David Henson (British Team Captain of the 2014 Invictus Games)
• Debbie Jevans CBE (formerly Director of Sport for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games; Organising committee member Invictus Games 2014)
• Edward Lane Fox (Private Secretary of Prince Harry)
• Terry Miller (general counsel for the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games; Organising committee member Invictus Games 2014)
• Guy Monson (Trustees, The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry)
• Mary Reilly ( also on the Board of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, organising committee member of Invictus Games 2014)

Staff:

• Managing Director: Dominic Reid OBE (was responsible for the operational delivery of the Invictus Games London 2014)
• Operations Manager: Rose Hall (organising team for the Invictus Games London 2014.)

Ambassador

Lewis Hamilton a three time Formula 1 World Champion,was appointed as the first ambassador.^[16]

• Hamilton visited Tedworth House, before the announcement ^[17]
• 3 July 2015, Lewis invited some Invictus Games athletes to British Grand Prix.^[18]

2014 Invictus Games

Four runners from Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States during a 100-metre qualifying heat at the 2014 Invictus Games

Three American defenders knock the ball away from an Australian player during a wheelchair rugby pool match between the United States and Australia at the 2014 Invictus Games

The first Invictus Games were held on 10–14 September 2014.^{[1][8][19][20]} Around 300 competitors from 13 countries which have fought alongside the United Kingdom in recent military campaigns participated. These included the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Denmark, New Zealand and Afghanistan. Competitive events were held at many of the venues used during the 2012 Olympics, including the Copper Box and the Lee Valley Athletics Centre. The Games were broadcast by the BBC.^[1][21]

Organising committee

• President: HRH Prince Harry KCVO
• Chairman: Sir Keith Mills GBE (former deputy chairman of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games)
• Lieutenant General Andrew Gregory CB (represents Defence on the Invictus Games Board)
• General Sir Nick Parker KCB CBE (was in charge with organising the military support provided by the Armed Forces during the London 2012 Games)
• Sara Donaldson OBE (was chief operating officer of the Production Company for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies)
• Edward Lane Fox (private secretary of HRH Prince Harry)
• Debbie Jevans CBE (formerly Director of Sport for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games)
• Terry Miller OBE (was general counsel for the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games)
• Guy Monson (trustee of The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry)
• Roger Mosey (was the BBC's Director of London 2012 Olympic Games coverage and former BBC editorial director)
• Mary Reilly (was also on the Board of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games)
• Chris Townsend OBE (was Commercial Director for the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games)
• Sir Nathan Murray (was in charge of organising the arenas for the games to take place)

Invited countries

14 countries were invited to the 2014 games, 8 from Europe, 2 from Asia, 2 from North America and 2 from Oceania. No countries from Africa were invited. There were teams from all the invited countries, except Iraq, competing in the games.

Sporting events

Athletics (aka track & field), Archery, Indoor rowing, Powerlifting, Road cycling, Sitting volleyball, Swimming, Wheelchair basketball and Wheelchair rugby. The presenting partner Jaguar Land Rover also organised a driving challenge.

2014 closing concert

The closing concert was broadcast on BBC Two hosted by Clare Balding and Greg James.^[23] The concert was hosted by Nick Grimshaw and Fearne Cotton, with live performances from Foo Fighters, James Blunt, Rizzle Kicks, Bryan Adams and Ellie Goulding.^[24][25][26]

Venues

The following venues were used for Invictus 2014:

• Lee Valley Athletics Centre
• London Velopark
• Here East
• London Aquatics Centre
• Copper Box Arena

2016 Invictus Games

Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman narrates for the opening ceremony to the 2016 Invictus games in Orlando, Florida

On 14 July 2015, Prince Harry, Patron of Invictus Games Foundation, announced the 2016 Invictus Games would take place from 8–12 May 2016 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida.^[27]

On 28 October 2015, Prince Harry and USA's First Lady Michelle Obama and Second Lady Jill Biden, launched Invictus Games 2016 at Fort Belvoir.^[28]

Organising committee

U.S. Invictus wheelchair basketball team members celebrate their gold medal win during the 2016 Invictus Games

In order to bring Invictus Games to the USA, Military Adaptive Sports Inc. (MASI) was created, and worked to build on the success of the Invictus Games 2014 held in London.^[29]

Board Members of Military Adaptive Sports Inc.^[30]

• Chairman: Ken Fisher (Chairman and CEO of the Fisher House Foundation)
• Gerry Byrne, PMC’s Vice Chairman, also on the board of many NPO: Fisher House, The Bob Woodruff Foundation,Veterans Advantage,etc.
• Paul W. Bucha, Vietnam War veteran.
• Martin L. Edelman, “of counsel” to Paul Hastings LLP,
• Bronwen Evans, Founding Director and CEO of True Patriot Love Foundation (TPL) of Canada, which has been raising record funds to support military families through its signature Tribute Dinners since its inception in 2009.
• David Fox, retired Senior Partner of Greenwich Associates
• Michael Haynie, Vice Chancellor of Syracuse University, responsible for Veteran and Military Affairs.
• Charlie Huebner, vice president of Paralympic development for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Foundation (USOPF).
• Raymond W. Kelly
• Donna E. Shalala, President and CEO of the Clinton Foundation.
• Christie Smith, PhD, Deloitte Managing Principal for Consulting in the west region of the United States.
• Jacqueline A. Weiss, General Counsel of Fisher Brothers, responsible for legal affairs.
• Montel Williams

Ken Fisher served as Chairman and CEO for Invictus Games Orlando 2016.^[31]

Invited countries

All 14 countries from the 2014 Games were invited back, while Jordan was the only new invitee.^[32]

Sporting events

2017 Invictus Games

Toronto will host the 2017 Invictus Games in September during Canada's sesquicentennial. Building from hosting the Pan American and Parapan American Games in 2015, Toronto's organizers plan to feature more competitors, nations and sports — such as ice events — than previously.^[34]

Unlike prior games which were hosted at a single site, multiple venues around the Greater Toronto Area will host the 12 sporting events and opening and closing ceremonies^[35][36]. The venues are Air Canada Centre to host the opening and closing ceremony. Fort York National Historic Site to host archery. Nathan Phillips Square to host wheelchair tennis; Ryerson's Mattamy Athletic Centre to host indoor rowing, powerlifting, sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby; St. George's Golf and Country Club to host golf; The Distillery District to host the Jaguar Land Rover driving challenge; Toronto Island Parks to host cycling; Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre to host swimming, sitting volleyball and wheelchair basketball; and York Lions Stadium to host athletics.

Michael Burns is the CEO for 2017 Games and official mascot for the Games is Vimy, a Labrador.^[37]

Invited countries

All 15 countries from the 2016 Games were invited back, with new invitations going to Romania and Ukraine.^[38]

Sporting events

2018 Invictus Games

Bids to host the 2018 Invictus Games closed in December 2015.^[40] The Gold Coast in Australia announced its intention to bid, using facilities built for the 2018 Commonwealth Games.^[41] In November 2016 Sydney, Australia was announced as the host city.^[42]

See also

• Military sports
• Military World Games
• Stoke Mandeville Games

References

External links

• Media related to Invictus Games at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website
  • 2014 games
  • 2016 games
  • 2017 games