2025 Invictus Games - British Columbia

The Invictus Games were first held in London, England in 2014.   After seeing the Warrior Games in Colorado in 2013, Prince Harry wanted to create a multi-sport international games to "demonstrate the power of sport to inspire recovery, support rehabilitation and demonstrate life beyond disability". (Daily Telegraph, 2014).   The athletes are veteran and current military service members from around the world.   Invictus is Latin for “unconquered”,  a spirit that all of these athletes embody.  

Since 2014, Canada has had the honour of hosing the Invictus Games two times.   In 2017, Toronto hosted a summer version of the games. At that time, we welcomed 539 competitors from 17 nations, including Romania, Iraq and Ukraine, who were competing in their first games.  There were 8 days of fierce competition spread over 12 adaptive sports.  Due to her work at the Pan/Parapam Am Games, Trish became a lead volunteer for this event.   Even though her resume has gotten much longer, Trish still states, “to this day it is my favourite multigame experience, and it is due to the spirit of athletes celebrating rehab, recovery and success.”

In February, British Columbia hosted the first winter version of the Invictus Games,  including 500+ athletes,  23 nations and 11 winter sports held across Vancouver and Whistler.     We are so proud that James was selected as a sponsored medical practitioner and spent 8 days in Vancouver assisting with the medical treatment of the athletes.   Luckily, he wasn’t too busy.   But he admits that his favourite moments included watching the gold medal Wheelchair rugby game between United Kingdom and France and meeting Prince Harry.  It was also his first trip to British Columbia; he discovered the beauty of our west coast, and hopes to return for some camping and hiking.
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The next Invictus Games will be held in Birmingham, UK in summer of 2027.   Who knows, maybe Trish will head back to her Commonwealth stomping ground…