Capital urged to bid for Invictus Games

Event for wounded, ill service personnel founded by prince

Victoria is well-positioned to launch a bid for the Invictus Games, which bring together military personnel injured while serving, says an Canadian Olympic Committee member.

Peter Lawless, the Victoriabased vice-president of the committee, said a bid would come from a local group — and a decision would have to be made fairly soon.

“We’re looking at a deadline of October of this year.”

The Invictus Games — invictus means “unconquered” in Latin — were founded in 2014 by Prince Harry. The fourth annual event is being held this summer in Toronto.

Lawless said Victoria has plenty of facilities that could host the multi-sport event. Toronto officials are planning 12 adaptive sports, including archery, track and field, swimming and wheelchair basketball.

“It’s one of the beauties of Victoria — we have the infrastructure here already,” Lawless said. “It’s an ongoing legacy of the 1994 Commonwealth Games.”

He listed the Commonwealth Place pool, the velodrome and the Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence as key sites.

The University of Victoria’s Centre for Athletics, Recreation and Special Abilities is also a great resource, Lawless said.

“We are a hotbed of sport for the country,” he said. “We’ve got a real strong volunteer community, as well, and a real strong military community.”

The games were created to inspire people though sport, Lawless said.

“It’s for ill and injured servicemen, servicewomen, currently serving or retired,” he said. “It’s such a tough thing. They are people that were called to serve, and they serve, and something bad happens.”

He said some see their life completely change.

“They’ve gone from being, generally speaking, part of a team, pretty physical, pretty forward-thinking,” Lawless said. “And with [post-traumatic stress disorder] and things like that, they end up turning inward, often ending up in their basement or separated from the Forces.”

Sport can be a way to recover “and to gain acceptance of whatever an individual’s new normal is.”