2018 Invictus Games
The 2018 Invictus Games were a huge success.
Created in 2014 by Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, the event is for wounded, injured and/or sick armed services personnel and their associated veterans was this year held in New South Wales, Australia between the 20 and 27 October.
A total of 18 nations and 503 competitors, 72 from the UK, participated in 13 sports, namely archery, athletics, golf, indoor rowing, power-lifting, road cycling, sailing, sitting volleyball, swimming, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis and a driving challenge.
Team UK, captained by Mark ‘Dot’ Perkins, won a total of 72 medals (one third of them gold) and, in fact, 17 medals were gained on the very last day of competition.
There were thrills and spills aplenty, coupled with joy and despair, for many members of Team UK, but some were quite brilliant, among them:
■ Joe Dillnut gained three medals, winning gold in the men's IT3 200m and men's IJ3 long jump and bronze for the men's IT3 400m.
■ Sprinter Kushal Limbu smashed the men's IT1 200m by winning a gold medal in a time which was almost a second faster the runner-up.
■ Alex Tate was superb when claiming gold in the men's IJ1 long jump.
■ Malcolm Rose was unlucky but still won silver in both the men's IT5 200m and IT5 400m races.
■ In the men's IF6 discus, the stars were Dave Watson and Mark Ormrod, who won gold and bronze medals respectively.
■ Emma McCormick collected gold in the women's IF1 shot putt.
■ Strong man Mark Tye set a new games record by lifting 296kg to win a power-lifting gold.
■ Swimmers Mike Goody (two gold and a bronze), Alex Dewar (gold and bronze), Mike Ormord (gold, silver and bronze), Rachael Williams (silver) and a tearful Richard Gamble (bronze) all excelled in the pool.
Top of the bill overall, was Aussie swimmer Sonya Newman who won four gold medals. There were also several moments that epitomised the spirit of the Invictus Games including American Mike Kacer who handed one of his medals to a fan who, like him, is an amputee, while American female wheelchair racer Brandi Evans held back 20 yards from the finishing line to allow UK competitor Naomi Adie to slip past her to take bronze.
And praise to for Ilford-born Lance Corporal Abbie Joy Kasparis (brother of Nick) who competed in three events – athletics, power-lifting and rowing. Prince Harry closed the games by praising the participating competitors, saying: “They are ordinary people doing extraordinary things. And with the help of their friends and families, they have exceeded every expectation.
“In such a short span of time, the Games have evolved into an international platform of some of the best athletics and sportsmanship you could ever witness, coupled with a camaraderie and close-knit sense of community which can only be defined as the Invictus Spirit”.
NB: Jaguar Land Rover was the Presenting Partner for the games, as it had been since its inception in London in 2014. Other sponsors included the Fisher House Foundation, Medibank, Sage Group, Amazon, Gold Medal Systems, Norwest, Technical Direction Company and the Packer Family Foundation.
The Australian government donated $10,000 (€6,250/£5,525) to the games to mark the occasion of the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
* The fifth Invictus Games will be held in Holland in 2020.