Invictus Games 2017 / Topics & Posted Articles

This article cuts to the chase . . .

http://www.cbc.ca/playersvoice/entry/mike-trauner-invictus-games-prove-i-matter

‘You are Invictus’: Trudeau praises veterans at opening of Invictus Games

By: Staff Torstar News Service Published on Sun Sep 24 2017

Team Canada, led by flag-bearer Phil Badanai, was met with enthusiastic applause at kick-off to a week of adaptive sport for military members who became ill or injured during service.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks in front of team Canada during the Invictus Games Opening Ceremonies in Toronto on Saturday September, 2017.

The 500 wounded veterans who will be competing in Invictus Games events for the next week will doubtless inspire many: fellow veterans, current servicemen and women, spectators, and people both disabled and able-bodied.

But that’s only the half of it.

“You’re not just here to inspire, you’re here to win,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in welcoming the athletes during the opening ceremony at the Air Canada Centre on Saturday night.

“You will show the world that illness and injury can actually be a source of tremendous strength.”

Trudeau added, “We know that no one leaves a battlefield unchanged, and that not all scars can be seen. Asking for help when you have physical and mental injuries, that’s hard for everyone. But it’s especially tough for people like you who have dedicated your lives to helping others.”

Team Canada was met with enthusiastic applause at the opening ceremony. Led by flag-bearer Phil Badanai, the team of 90 athletes capped off the introduction of the 17 countries competing at the Games. Sunday kicks off a week of adaptive sport for military members who became ill or injured during service.

About 550 competitors from countries as far-flung as Afghanistan, Italy, Ukraine and New Zealand are taking part in 12 sports in the annual event, which was created by Prince Harry and aims to help the war wounded, many grievously, with their recovery.
Harry said “the direction of (his) life changed forever” after serving in the military, between 2005 and 2015, and he knew he had to use his “great platform to advocate for servicepeople.”

“Some of you have cheated death, and come back even stronger than before ... You are all winners,” he said. “You are Invictus, let’s get started.”

Mike Myers, a Canadian comedian and ambassador for the Games, spoke about his military family as both parents served in the Second World War.

“Those who serve our country deserve our utmost respect, and so do the families,” Myers said. “My dad would talk about the unbreakable bond he had with those who served, they were brothers.”

The ceremony was replete with speeches and entertainment, starting with Luca “Lazy Legs” Patuelli, a Montreal break dancing performer with arthrogryposis, a neuromuscular disease that affects the use of his legs.

“Today, we are honouring servicepeople around the world,” Patuelli said, addressing the crowd before his performance. “There are no limits to what we can accomplish in our lives.”

The Tenors performed the national anthem, dedicating it to servicemen and women. Among other performers were Sarah McLachlan, Alessia Cara, of Brampton, and Quebec folk group La Bottine Souriante.

Prince Harry sat next to U.S. first lady Melania Trump during the ceremony, sitting a row above Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Sophie Grégoire Trudeau and near Premier Kathleen Wynne.

The prince’s girlfriend, Meghan Markle, was also in the crowd, but away from the prince and with her friend Markus Anderson.
Trudeau and Harry met at a downtown Toronto hotel earlier in the day where they exchanged laughs and pleasantries and Harry told Trudeau the Games had created “a real buzz around Toronto.”

Trudeau, in turn, thanked Harry for founding the Games and creating opportunities for veterans.

Harry then met Gov. Gen. David Johnston and his wife, Sharon, before attending the star-studded opening ceremony at the Air Canada Centre.

“Welcome to our humble country,” Johnston told the prince.

“It’s fantastic to be back,” Harry answered. “Always, a pleasure to be in Canada, my home away from home.”

Celebrity-watchers might try to read something into that and try to catch a glimpse of Harry and Markle, a Toronto-based American actress with whom he has never been seen with in public.

There will be plenty of non-sporting activities during the week, including a career summit for veterans.

Earlier in the day, a crowd of a few hundred strong whooped when Harry entered the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and clamoured for his attention when he emerged more than hour later.

The prince did not disappoint, crossing the road after his tour to talk to children, meet a pup and shake hands with the crowd as they waited in unseasonably warm, sunny weather.

“Oh my goodness, I’m so happy, he shook my hand,” said a dazzled Robinowe Bukirwa, who wondered if she was dreaming even as the prince faded into the distance.

“I don’t think I’m going to wash my hand today. I’m so very excited.”

The prince’s tour of the centre included two roundtables — one with nine senior staff members focused on research, the other on dealing with youth coping with mental illness.

Describing the complex issue as one requiring a “massive team effort,” Harry, who served in the military from 2005 to 2015, listened attentively to staff discuss their work, and anecdotes from patients who sought treatment for mental health and addiction struggles at the facility in downtown Toronto.

The prince stressed the importance of mental health research and treatment — a topic he has championed. There is no “silver bullet” when it comes to dealing with the problem, he said.

“You need options,” he said.

One person in attendance told Harry she still cherished a visit decades before from his mother, the late Diana, Princess of Wales. The prince also met privately with teenage in-patients of the mental health facility.

The 2017 Invictus Games will feature 550 competitors from 17 countries participating in 12 sports. An estimated 1,500 volunteers are also on board.

Events include athletes of all genders, and those who are able-bodied and disabled will compete side-by-side in sports like sitting volleyball, wheelchair rugby, powerlifting and swimming.

The inaugural Invictus Games, aimed at helping the war wounded with their recovery, were held in London in 2014. The Toronto Games run until Sept. 30.

Tickets to individual events are $25 while admission is free to a few events like wheelchair tennis, cycling, golf and archery. Those watching at home can tune in to TSN to see the competition.

http://www.metronews.ca/sports/2017/09/24/trudeau-at-invictus-games-opening-ceremony.html

Invictus Canada team captain overcame PTSD

Sept 24, 2017


Team Canada co-captain MCpl (Ret'd) Natacha Dupuis of Gatineau, Que., a member of Canada's Invictus Games team, is shown in Ottawa, Wednesday, September 20, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Chartrand - The Canadian Press, 2017

TORONTO — Natacha Dupuis's return to sports started with a mountain bike.

The former master corporal served in several Canadian Forces regiments, including the Royal Canadian Dragoons, for over 16 years. She did a tour in Bosnia and two in Afghanistan — the last of which saw her witness the deaths of two comrades.

Her diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder came after her return home. And her symptoms didn't just include psychological difficulties — she was in physical pain, too. Dupuis said she'd always been athletic, but found herself gaining weight.

So Soldier On, a Canadian Forces program to help rehabilitate injured veterans, gave her a mountain bike — a gift that Dupuis said started her road to recovery.

"Mountain biking was part of my journey," said the Gatineau, Que., resident. "That's how I got back into sports."

Three years after she left the military, Dupuis is one of Team Canada's co-captains at the Invictus Games, which got underway in Toronto this weekend.

The Games are an international sports competition for military veterans with physical or mental injuries. Prince Harry, himself a former captain in the British army, started the Games after visiting a similar event for U.S. military personnel in 2013. He decided to launch a much larger international version open to several nations as a way to showcase the wounded soldiers' "unconquered spirit."

Hence 'Invictus': the Latin word for 'Unconquered.'

Over 400 athletes from 13 nations attended the first Invictus Games, held in London, in the fall of 2014. Two years later, the second Games saw 500 athletes from 17 different host nations compete in Orlando, Fla.

At least 550 athletes from 17 countries are competing in 12 sports in the Games this year, making it the largest in the history of the sporting event. Ninety of those athletes are Canadian.

Dupuis was part of Team Canada in Orlando last year. She ran — and won gold — in both the 100-metre and 200-metre dash, and picked up a bronze in powerlifting. But her hard work at the Orlando Games didn't just mean an array of medals for her wall. Dupuis said she lost about 30 pounds over the course of training.

"Last year's Games was the extra push that I needed to regain control over my illness and my injury," she said.

This week, she'll be back for both track-and-field and, for the first time in her Invictus career, rowing.

"I think it's very exciting and I can't wait to actually perform in front of Canadians," Dupuis said.

For many of the participating athletes, the Invictus Games go beyond medals. They say it's also about the camaraderie that comes with the serving in the military.

Dupuis is no exception.

"Having a medal is nice," she said. "But...the Invictus Games is much more than that."

By Brennan Doherty, The Canadian Press

https://www.durhamregion.com/news-story/7573623-invictus-canada-team-captain-overcame-ptsd/