Harry and Meghan to meet athletes at Invictus Games trials
PRINCE HARRY and Meghan Markle will attend the UK team trials for the Invictus Games today.
Harry and his fiancée, inset, will join Invictus Games hopefuls as they try out on the athletics track, before meeting those taking part in the sitting volleyball trials. The trials are at the University of Bath Sports Training Village but the Games will be staged in Sydney this October.
Harry founded the Invictus Games, an international Paralympic-style sporting event for wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women, both serving and veterans.
The Games use the power of sport to inspire recovery, support rehabilitation and generate a wider understanding for all those who serve their country.
Sydney is the fourth city to host the Invictus Games, after London in 2014, Orlando in 2016, and Toronto last year which was attended by Ms Markle. It is likely Ms Markle and the prince, who is patron of the Invictus Games Foundation, which oversees the delivery of the tournament, will be among the spectators at the Games in Australia.
The Sydney Games, staged from October 20-27, will see more than 500 competitors from 18 nations compete in 11 adaptive sports. The UK team trials are being run by Help for Heroes, with support from the Ministry of Defence, the Royal British Legion and the Endeavour Fund, and will be hosted at the University of Bath over four days. They will see more than 400 competitors battle for the 72 places available on the UK team. Meanwhile, Prince Harry has become patron of the Walk Of America expedition, Kensington Palace announced. The trek is the latest by Armed Forces charity Walking With The Wounded, and the prince will formally launch the hike in London on Wednesday April 11.
A team of six veterans from the US and the United Kingdom will walk 1,000 miles from the west to the east coast of America in 14 weeks this summer.
Starting in Los Angeles – Meghan Markle’s home – on June 2 and finishing in New York on September 6, the team will walk by some of America’s most famous cities. Kensington Palace said: “The Walk Of America will create a platform to tell the stories of wounded veterans.”