Host city | Toronto, Canada |
---|---|
Nations | 17 |
Debuting countries | 2 |
Opening | 23 September 2017 |
Closing | 30 September 2017 |
Opened by | Prince Harry |
Torch lighter | Natacha Dupuis, Simon Mailloux, David Johnston |
Main venue | Air Canada Centre |
Website | www |
The 2017 Invictus Games was a parasport event for wounded, injured or sick armed services personnel and their associated veterans, which was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The third Invictus Games, an event created in 2014 by Prince Harry, included eleven sports. It was the second Games to be held in North America, following the Invictus Games Orlando 2016.
The CEO of the 2017 Invictus Games was Michael Burns. [1]
The relay took place between 19 August and 26 September, visiting all 32 Canadian Forces bases and neighbouring communities, being carried by over 1000 torchbearers. The route was charted as being 7000 kilometres long.
The Games used some of the facilities from Pan American and Parapan American Games in 2015, held in Toronto. [2] [3]
Venue | Events/Sports |
---|---|
Air Canada Centre | Opening and closing ceremonies |
York Lions Stadium | Athletics |
Fort York National Historic Site | Archery |
Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre | Swimming, Sitting volleyball and wheelchair basketball |
Nathan Phillips Square | Wheelchair tennis |
Mattamy Athletic Centre | Indoor rowing, powerlifting, sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby |
St. George's Golf and Country Club | Golf |
High Park | Cycling |
Distillery District | Driving challenge |
There was no athlete's village for these games, but the downtown Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel became an unofficial village for participants living there. [4]
The Royal Canadian Legion was asked by organizers to be a sponsor; the 30 members of the Legion council who met voted unanimously in support. Their $500,000 donation drew criticism from Canadian Veterans Advocacy, who suggested that drawing on the Poppy Campaign donations as opposed to other revenue sources was inappropriate. The Legion and columnists defended the use of funds as supporting the mission, noting other veteran welfare projects like purchasing a specialized MRI for a mental health clinic. [5] [6]
A dog named Vimy was announced as the Games' mascot in April 2015. [1] It was named for the Battle of Vimy Ridge, considered by many as a defining moment in Canadian history. [7] [8] [9] A few days later, Prince Harry attended an exhibition sledge hockey game at Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto, alongside Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Toronto Mayor John Tory, as part of a series of launch events at the Royal York Hotel, [10] and with Elizabeth Dowdeswell in the office of the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, at the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Queen's Park.
All 15 countries from the 2016 Games were invited again, [11] while Romania and Ukraine made their debut. [12]
Source: [13]
OC | Opening ceremony | ● | Event competitions | 1 | Event finals | CC | Closing ceremony |
* Host nation (Canada)
Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | United States | 41 | 38 | 55 | 134 |
2 | United Kingdom | 26 | 35 | 27 | 88 |
3 | Canada* | 18 | 17 | 13 | 48 |
4 | Australia | 16 | 23 | 13 | 52 |
5 | Netherlands | 14 | 2 | 8 | 24 |
6 | France | 11 | 14 | 11 | 36 |
7 | Ukraine | 8 | 3 | 3 | 14 |
8 | Iraq | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
9 | New Zealand | 3 | 4 | 4 | 11 |
10 | Denmark | 3 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
11 | Estonia | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
12 | Italy | 1 | 5 | 3 | 9 |
13 | Jordan | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
14 | Germany | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
15 | Romania | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
16 | Georgia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
17 | Afghanistan | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Totals (17 entries) | 151 | 150 | 148 | 449 |
Bell Media was announced as the exclusive broadcast partner of the Games, in a deal covering both the Orlando 2016 and Toronto 2017 events. Events were shown on TSN. [14] The station helped run the Toronto launch ceremony in May 2016. [14]
The Battle of Vimy Ridge was part of the Battle of Arras, in the Pas-de-Calais department of France, during the First World War. The main combatants were the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in the First Army, against three divisions of the German 6th Army. The battle occurred from 9 to 12 April 1917, marking the commencement of the Battle of Arras and serving as the inaugural assault of the Nivelle Offensive. The objective was to draw German reserves away from the French forces, preparing for a crucial offensive along the Aisne and the Chemin des Dames ridge several days later.
Vimy is a commune in the French department of Pas-de-Calais. Located 3.8 kilometers (2.4 mi) east of Vimy is the Canadian National Vimy Memorial dedicated to the Battle of Vimy Ridge and the Canadian soldiers who were killed during the First World War. The Memorial is also the site of two Canadian cemeteries.
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Walter Seymour Allward was a Canadian monumental sculptor best known for the Canadian National Vimy Memorial. Featuring expressive classical figures within modern compositions, Allward's monuments evoke themes of memory, sacrifice, and redemption. He has been widely praised for his "original sense of spatial composition, his mastery of the classical form and his brilliant craftsmanship".
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The Invictus Games is an international multi-sport event first held in 2014, for wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women, both serving and veterans. The word 'Invictus' is Latin for 'unconquered', chosen as an embodiment of the fighting spirit of the wounded, injured and sick service personnel and what they can achieve, post-injury.
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