2014 Invictus Games The first Invictus Games were held in London 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. Teams from all the invited countries, except Iraq, took part. 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 narrates for the opening ceremony to the 2016 Invictus games in Orlando, Florida On 14 July 2015, Prince Harry 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, 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
Air Canada Centre hosted the ceremonies.
Fort York National Historic Site hosted the archery;
Nathan Phillips Square hosted 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 hosted cycling;
Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre hosted swimming, sitting volleyball and wheelchair basketball; and
York Lions Stadium hosted the athletics. Michael Burns was the CEO for the 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 was the CEO. 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. Off the back of the Invictus Games in Sydney, legacy organisation
Invictus Australia was set up to continue to support veterans and their families through sport within Australia beyond the games period. It has partnerships with the
Australian Sports Commission and Volunteering Australia.
2020 Invictus Games The games were to be held on 9–16 May 2020 at the
Zuiderpark Stadion 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 were 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 would executive produce the series and appear on camera. The funding from the documentary series would go to the Invictus Games Foundation, and their work supporting international wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans.
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 were postponed to 2023.
2025 Invictus Games On 22 April 2022, the Duke of Sussex announced that the 2025 games will take place in
Vancouver and
Whistler, Canada. The bid to host the games was submitted by
True Patriot Love Foundation, in partnership with the Government of Canada, the province of British Columbia and the two Canadian municipalities and in partnership with the local
Lil'wat,
Musqueam,
Squamish, and
Tsleil-Waututh indigenous nations. For the first time
pickleball is expected to be included in the Invictus Games.
Carlisle-based Gaz Golightly, a military veteran and amputee, lobbied for inclusion of the sport after trying various wheelchair sports and deciding pickleball was by far the most inclusive for wheelchair users. ==See also==