Two new nations join Invictus community
18th May, 2022, London from the Invictus Games Foundation: Two new nations, Colombia and Nigeria, are joining the Invictus Games Foundation today in a new community structure.
Representing new continents for the first time, Colombia and Nigeria are joining the Invictus Community of Nations to gain the benefits of sport recovery for their wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans. With the final list of participating nations at the Invictus Games Dusseldorf 2023 yet to be confirmed, both nations are joining the international community to access the Invictus Games Foundation’s wider program of activity available all year round, beyond the Games.
Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, Founding Patron of the Invictus Games Foundation said, “The world felt the power of our Invictus community last month in The Hague, and now, I am delighted to announce that we have two new nations — Colombia and Nigeria — joining our inspiring international family. As we continue to harness the power of sport in recovery and rehabilitation year-round, I’m proud to share that Invictus is now represented across every continent (except Antarctica)! The Invictus Community of Nations is built by the resilience of the men and women who serve or have served, and it’s a distinct honour to offer even more wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans the opportunity to be included in the community and programming we offer.”
Representing the first South American and African countries respectively, Colombia and Nigeria are joining to benefit from being a part of the broader community of nations – and to share their own experiences of sports recovery too.
President of Colombia, Iván Duque, said, “Colombia is very honoured to become the first South American nation to join the Invictus Community of Nations. We are proud to work alongside the Invictus Games Foundation to further support our military community, who are the foundation of our democracy and the guarantors of a better future for all Colombians. Joining the Invictus Community of Nations is a recognition of the experience and talent of our veterans, who aside from the enormous contribution they have made during the course of their service, through their resilience have transformed themselves into top athletes.”
Group Captain (Retired) Kayode Richard Abe, National General Secretary, Nigerian Legion, said, “We are very pleased and excited that Nigeria will be joining the Invictus Games Foundation’s Invictus Community of Nations, to enable our injured veteran community to remain engaged with their comrades, and embark on improving their recovery through sports and adventurous challenge.”
Being part of the community does not automatically lead to participation in the Invictus Games, with invites to the Invictus Games Dusseldorf 2023 due later this year, but instead gives access to programmes such as the We Are Invictus platform for international wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans; the Powered by Invictus leagues, featuring sports and esports challenges to maintain competition and community beyond the Games; to the Invictus: Endeavour Programme grants for sports and adventurous challenge, and to the IGF Conversation series, sharing best practice amongst the community.
More nations are expected to join over time, and participation in future Invictus Games will be drawn from membership of this community.
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More information
About the Invictus Games Foundation
The Invictus Games Foundation is the charity behind the Invictus Games. Founded in 2014 post the inaugural Invictus Games London 2014, the Foundation oversees the delivery of the Invictus Games as well as supports its international community with opportunities to use sports, esports and adventurous challenge to inspire, improve and influence recovery, beyond the Games.
Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, is Founding Patron of the Invictus Games Foundation. The Invictus Games have so far taken place in London 2014, Orlando 2016, Toronto 2017, Sydney 2018 and The Hague 2022. Subsequent Games will be held in Dusseldorf 2023, and Vancouver-Whistler 2025.
Further quotes:
Dominic Reid CEO, Invictus Games Foundation
“Since the inception of the Invictus Games in 2014, we have learnt a great deal about the ways in which sport can positively influence the recovery journey of international wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans, and we’re still learning. By building the Invictus community in this way we are seeing powerful results through collaboration and increasing support for recovery and rehabilitation. The programmes we offer beyond the Games will enable a broader international community of WIS to access activity into the future.”
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