Prince Harry HQ London District and Invictus Games
What are Invictus Games?
What are Invictus Games?
On 17 January 2014, the Ministry of Defence announced that Harry had completed his attachment to 3 Regiment Army Air Corps and would take up a staff officer role at the position of SO3 (Defence Engagement) in HQ London District. His responsibilities would include helping to co-ordinate significant projects and commemorative events involving the Army in London. He was based at Horse Guards in central London. On 6 March 2014, Prince Harry launched Invictus Games, a Paralympic-style sporting event for injured servicemen and women, which was held on 10-14 September 2014. Prince Harry met British hopefuls for the Invictus Games at Tedworth House for the start of the selection process on 29 April 2014. On 15 May 2014, Harry attended a ticket sale launch for Invictus Games at BT Tower, where he made a public tweet on the Invictus Games' official Twitter account as the president of Invictus Games. To promote the Games, Prince Harry was interviewed by BBC Radio 2's Chris Evans along with two Invictus Games hopefuls. He said: "This (Invictus Games) is basically my full-time job at the moment, making sure that we pull this off." The show aired on 31 July 2014. Harry later wrote an article in The Sunday Times about his experiences in Afghanistan: how they had inspired him to help injured personnel and how, after the trip to the Warrior Games, he had vowed to create the Invictus Games. Harry and officials attended the British Armed Forces Team announcement for Invictus Games at Potters Field Park in August 2014, and as president of the Invictus Games, Harry attended all events related to the Games from 8 to 14 September 2014. In January 2015, it was reported that Harry would take a new role in supporting wounded service personnel by working alongside members of the London District's Personal Recovery Unit for the MOD's Defence Recovery Capability scheme to ensure that wounded personnel have adequate recovery plans. The scheme was established in partnership with Help for Heroes and the Royal British Legion, the palace confirmed weeks later. In late January 2015, Harry visited The Battle Back Centre set up by the Royal British Legion, and Fisher House UK at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, which was created in the partnership between Help for Heroes, the Fisher House Foundation and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB) Charity. Fisher House Foundation is one of the Invictus Games' sponsors. In February and March 2015, Harry visited Phoenix House in Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, a recovery centre run by Help for Heroes, and Merville Barracks in Colchester, where Chavasse VC House Personnel Recovery Centre is located, run by Help for Heroes in partnership with the Ministry of Defence and Royal British Legion. CANNOTANSWER
a Paralympic-style sporting event for injured servicemen and women,
The 2020 Invictus Games will take place in The Hague, Netherlands. It will be the fifth Invictus Games. The games will be documented in a Netflix documentary called Heart of Invictus.

The games were to be held on 9–16 May 2020 at the Zuiderpark, but were postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They were then postponed again to the Spring of 2022.

Participating countries 
The 18 participating countries of the 2018 Invictus Games are invited back, along with new invitations to Belgium and South Korea, which made the total number of participating countries to 20.

The participating countries are:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  (host)

References

2020 
Invictus Games
Invictus Games
Invictus Games
Invictus Games
Invictus Games "Invictus" is a short poem by William Ernest Henley.

Invictus may also refer to:

Music
 "Invictus", Edwardian setting of the poem by composer Bruno Siegfried Huhn
 Invictus (Virgin Steele album), 1998
 Invictus (George Kollias album), 2015
 Invictus (Iconoclast III), a 2010 album by Heaven Shall Burn
 "Invictus", a composition for band by Karl King
 Invictus Records, a record label operating between 1968 and 1977
 Invictus: A Passion, a 2018 choral work by Howard Goodall

Video gaming
 Invictus (Vampire: The Requiem), a covenant in the role-playing game
 Invictus Games (company), a PC games company dedicated to the racing genre
 Invictus Gaming, an eSports team

Other uses
 Invictus (film), a 2009 biographical sport drama film
 Invictus Games, an international sporting event for wounded soldiers
 Invictus (epithet), a Latin epithet for various Roman deities meaning "unconquered, invincible"
 Invictus (novel), a 2016 Eagles of the Empire novel by Simon Scarrow
 "Invictus", a 2018 television special continuation of the animated series 12 oz. Mouse

See also
 Sol Invictus, a sun god of the Roman Empire
 Sol Invictus (band), English neofolk and neoclassical group fronted by Tony Wakeford
 Invicta (disambiguation) The Invictus Games is an international sporting event for wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women, both serving and veterans. The Games use the power of sport to inspire recovery, support rehabilitation and generate a wider understanding and respect of all those who serve their country. The word 'Invictus' means 'unconquered', chosen as an embodiment of the fighting spirit of the wounded, injured and sick service personnel and what they can achieve, post injury.

The Invictus Games were founded by Prince Harry. The inspiration came from his visit to the Warrior Games in the USA, where he witnessed how sport can really help both psychologically and physically.

The first Invictus Games took place in September 2014 at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London, United Kingdom. The 2014 opening ceremony was organized by Harry and attended by British 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 the First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama.

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 games were organized by Harry. First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama, former U.S. President George W. Bush and many other dignitaries. U.S. President Barack Obama and Queen Elizabeth II helped make a promotional video for the 2016 event.

The third games were held in September 2017 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where Harry made one of his first high-profile public appearances with Meghan Markle, whom he later married. The 2018 games were held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and attended by both Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan. The 2020 games were scheduled to be held in The Hague, Netherlands in May 2020, but were postponed to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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. 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. £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. The Games were also sponsored by Jaguar Land Rover. 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". He also said that their long-term objective was to ensure that injured troops are not forgotten as Britain's involvement with the War in Afghanistan comes to an end.

Host cities

Invictus Games Foundation
The Invictus Games Foundation is the owner of the brand and the selector of future Host Cities. It exists to ensure that the Invictus Games continue to adhere to the high standards that have been set. It is responsible for sport & competition management, rules & categorisations and branding. The Foundation is also the final arbiter on the inclusion of additional sports and Participating Nations.

The Foundation has presided over the transition from a one-off inspiring Games to a global movement allowing the ‘Invictus Spirit’ to positively influence all levels of society.

People around the world have drawn inspiration from the competitors and their stories of resilience and determination.

The bidding process for future games started in November 2014.

Governance
The people who govern the foundation are:

Patron: The Duke of Sussex 
Chairman: Lord Charles Allen of Kensington

Trustees
Sir Keith Mills GBE DL (formerly chairman)
Dave Henson MBE (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 LVO (former Private Secretary of Prince Harry)
Guy Monson (Trustee, The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry)
Paddy Nicoll (Trustee, HALO Trust; formerly Army, Row2Recovery and Invictus Games 2014). 
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:
Chief Executive: Dominic Reid OBE (was responsible for the operational delivery of the Invictus Games London 2014)
Operations Director: Richard Smith CBE

Ambassador
Lewis Hamilton, a seven-time Formula One World Champion, was appointed as the first ambassador.
Hamilton visited Tedworth House before the announcement 
3 July 2015, Lewis invited some Invictus Games athletes to the British Grand Prix.

History

2014 Invictus Games

The first Invictus Games were held on 10–14 September 2014. Around 300 competitors from 13 countries which have fought alongside the United Kingdom in recent military campaigns participated. 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.

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.

The closing concert was broadcast on BBC Two hosted by Clare Balding and Greg James. The concert was hosted by Nick Grimshaw and Fearne Cotton, with live performances from Foo Fighters, Kaiser Chiefs, James Blunt, Rizzle Kicks, Bryan Adams and Ellie Goulding.

2016 Invictus Games

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.

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.

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

Ken Fisher served as Chairman and CEO for Invictus Games Orlando 2016.

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

2017 Invictus Games

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

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

Michael Burns was the CEO for 2017 Games and the official mascot for the Games was Vimy, a Labrador.

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

2018 Invictus Games

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

Patrick Kidd OBE was the CEO and the Royal Australian Mint released a commemorative $1 coin featuring braille text in the lead up to the Games.

All 17 countries from the 2017 Games were invited back, with an invitation extended to Poland.

2020 Invictus Games

The games were to be held on 9–16 May 2020 at the Zuiderpark in The Hague, Netherlands, but were postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They were then postponed again to the Spring of 2022. The new dates will be 16 April to 22 April, 2022.

In April 2021, it was announced that Heart of Invictus, a Netflix documentary series in partnership with Invictus Games and Archewell, would surround the competitors from the 2022 Invictus Games. Prince Harry will executive produce the series and appear on camera.

2023 Invictus Games
Games were to be held in 2022 in Düsseldorf, Germany, in the Merkur Spiel-Arena.  Following the postponement of the 2020 Games to 2022, the Düsseldorf Games have now been postponed to 2023.

See also

Help for Heroes
IWAS World Games
Military sports
Military World Games

References

External links

 
 2014 games
 2016 games
 2017 games
 2018 games
 2020 games
 2023 games

 
Disabled multi-sport events
Military sports competitions
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex
Recurring sporting events established in 2014
2014 establishments in the United Kingdom
NATO