Canada ready for Invictus Games
National team’s 90 athletes arrive in Toronto for competition
Members of Team Canada for the Invictus Games received a warm reception on Thursday afternoon, arriving from a camp in Ottawa to enthusiastic applause.
Athletes in red and white emerged from Union Station onto the grounds outside the Air Canada Centre to the sounds of local indie-pop band The Monowhales. Vimy, the dog mascot for the Invictus Games, was present to hype up the crowd.
Supporters waved colourful “Ontario 150” flags as the athletes walked onto the grounds, taking videos, pictures and cheering.
Team Canada has 90 athletes, all of whom fell ill or were injured in military service.
Toronto will host them and16 other nations for a week of sporting competition.
The arrival event was emceed by Curt Harnett, a three-time Olympic medallist in cycling.
Harnett, who was the chef de mission for Team Canada for the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto, said the city delivered in 2015, and expects it to again for the Invictus Games.
“It is an absolute pleasure to be here for something we have been training for for a year,” said Team Canada co-captain Natacha Dupuis, who sported an “I am” tattoo on her calf, a phrase that is part of the branding for the Games. “We are going to make Canada proud,” she said.
“Thank you to all Canadians who are going to tune in, show up, support us, cheer us, you’re the ones who are going to make the difference,” cocaptain Simon Mailloux said.
Peter Lawless, the head coach of Team Canada, did not serve in the military himself, but says he is “lucky enough to help out and do some ser-
“We are going to make Canada proud.” NATACHA DUPUIS TEAM CANADA CO-CAPTAIN
vice of (his) own.”
“I expect people to have a great time, to really have a milestone moment in their journey, and then I expect them to . . . use the learnings of the last year (of training) and the memories of this week,” he said.
“The Games are an opportunity for Canadians and visitors around the world to honour the sacrifices made by servicemen and women and their families,” said Eleanor McMahon, Ontario Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport.
McMahon said the Games are especially significant to her because she is the daughter of a veteran of the Second World War.
“I am certainly thinking of my dad, Hugh McMahon, today, it is why I am so deeply honoured to welcome Team Canada to Toronto,” she said.
At the end of the event, Team Canada athletes boarded a TTC bus marked with branding for the Games, and the route sign flashed “Invictus.”