Invictus Games to feature winter sports for 1st time when Vancouver, Whistler host in 2025
A new-look Invictus Games is coming to Vancouver and Whistler, featuring winter adaptive sports for the first time.
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, announced Friday that the two B.C. municipalities have won the bid to host the eight-day international sports competition for wounded and ill military veterans in February 2025.
“As Invictus continues to adapt and evolve, I am extremely excited to announce that the Invictus Games Foundation has selected Canada to host the first-ever Winter Hybrid Games in 2025,” Prince Harry, founder and patron on the competition, said in a statement.
“The Invictus Games Vancouver-Whistler 2025 will offer a global platform to expand the range and profile of winter adaptive sports.”
The games will feature alpine skiing, nordic skiing, skeleton and wheelchair curling as well as swimming, indoor rowing, sitting volleyball, wheelchair rugby and wheelchair basketball.
Over 500 athletes from more than 20 nations are expected to compete.
“We think that that combination of both indoor, traditional sports and new, innovative winter sports in a pioneering, hybrid format will be particularly exciting for competitors and their friends and families,” said Nick Booth, CEO of True Patriot Love, a Canadian foundation that supports military members, veterans and their families.
True Patriot Love is partnering with local governments and First Nations, the provincial government and the federal government to host the 2025 games. The foundation previously helped put on the 2017 Invictus Games in Toronto.
“We learned (in 2017) just how popular the games are in Canada,” Booth said. “The Canadian public really came out to support, celebrate and volunteer. And we're sure the public of British Columbia will do the same.”
London hosted the first Invictus Games in 2014. This year's competition is currently being held in The Hauge.
Booth is in the Netherlands, taking in the event and said he's been inspired once again by what he's seen.
“They're all amazing events. They change - in fact, they save - people's lives. I've met people who've told me they're alive because of the Invictus Games,” he said.
“Part of this journey for the athletes is not just the physical journey. Part of it is the sense of recognition and celebration they get from the crowd.”
Vancouver and Whistler hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics and both municipalities are backing a bid by local First Nations to hold the 2030 Winter Games.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 22, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NDP motion regarding Palestinian statehood passes after major Liberal alterations
A motion from the federal New Democrats initially calling on Canada to recognize the 'State of Palestine' passed amid widespread acrimony on Monday, after the Liberals drastically altered its wording to see the government simply work towards that aim as part of a two-state solution.
'He didn't want to die': Family of Calgary man killed in standoff speaks out
Family of a Calgary man killed after a 30-hour standoff with police last week are speaking out, sharing details of the tense and heart-wrenching experience.
Toronto family doctor who called patient's body 'perfect' suspended for 3 months: tribunal
A family doctor in Toronto has been suspended for three months after a disciplinary tribunal found that he failed to follow proper protocols while examining a patient's breasts and made inappropriate comments about her body.
Ohio mom who left toddler alone 10 days when she went on vacation pleads guilty to aggravated murder
An Ohio mother whose 16-month-old daughter died after being left home alone in a playpen for 10 days last summer while she went on vacation was sentenced Monday to life in prison with no chance of parole.
Retired teacher pleads guilty to paying for sex with 15-year-old in Collingwood, Ont.
In a Barrie courtroom on Monday, a retired high school teacher from the Niagara Region pleaded guilty to sexual touching and obtaining sexual services from a 15-year-old boy in Collingwood in 2021.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
5 charged in Calgary kidnappings that targeted women
Calgary police have charged five men in a pair of kidnappings last year that targeted innocent victims.
Demand soars for solar eclipse glasses in Canada. Are they worth buying?
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.
Canadian commander of volunteer fighter group dies in Ukraine
A Canadian-born commander of the so-called Norman Brigade, a volunteer fighting group in Ukraine, has died.