Invictus Games

The people who govern the foundation are:[12]

• Patron: The Duke of Sussex
• Chairman: Charles Allen, Baron 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

Lewis Hamilton, a seven-time Formula One World Champion, was appointed as the first ambassador.[13]

• Hamilton visited Tedworth House before the announcement [14]
• 3 July 2015, Lewis invited some Invictus Games athletes to the British Grand Prix.[15]

Four runners from Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States during a 100-metre qualifying heat at the 2014 Invictus Games

Three American defenders knock the ball away from an Australian player during a wheelchair rugby pool match between the United States and Australia at the 2014 Invictus Games

The first Invictus Games were held on 10–14 September 2014.[6][5][16][17] 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.[6][18]

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.[19] 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.[20][21][22]

Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman narrates for the opening ceremony to the 2016 Invictus games in Orlando, Florida

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.[23]

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.[24]

U.S. Invictus wheelchair basketball team members celebrate their gold medal win during the 2016 Invictus Games

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.[25]

Ken Fisher served as chairman and CEO for Invictus Games Orlando 2016.[26]

All 14 countries from the 2014 Games were invited back, while Jordan was the only new invitee.[27]

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.[28]

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.[29][30] 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.[31]

All 15 countries from the 2016 Games were invited back, with new invitations going to Romania and Ukraine.[32]

Bids to host the 2018 Invictus Games closed in December 2015.[33] The Gold Coast in Australia announced its intention to bid, using facilities built for the 2018 Commonwealth Games.[34] In November 2016, Sydney, Australia, was announced as the host city.[35]

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.[36]

All 17 countries from the 2017 Games were invited back, with an invitation extended to Poland.[37]

The games were to be held on 9–16 May 2020 at the Zuiderpark Stadion in The Hague, Netherlands,[38] but were postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They were then postponed again to the Spring of 2022.[39] The new dates were 16 April to 22 April 2022.[40]

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.[41] Prince Harry will executive produce the series and appear on camera. The funding from the documentary series will go to the Invictus Games Foundation, and their work supporting international wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans.[41][42]

Games were to be held in 2022 in Düsseldorf, Germany,[43] in the Merkur Spiel-Arena.[44] Following the postponement of the 2020 Games to 2022, the Düsseldorf Games have now been postponed to 2023.[45]

On 22 April 2022, Prince Harry announced that the 2025 games will take place in Vancouver and Whistler, Canada.[46] It is planned to be the first games to feature winter adaptive sports, including alpine skiing, Nordic skiing, skeleton and wheelchair curling.[46] The bid to host the games was submitted by the two Canadian municipalities in partnership with the local Lil'wat, Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh indigenous nations.[46]