Invictus Games 2025
by Maj J Whiteman RM and the RM Invictus Contingent
‘They’re like cockroaches, they get everywhere’. This was the description given regarding Royal at the Invictus Games. There were four RMs in Team UK and a lot more around the bazaars, including the Aussie and Kiwi teams.
The Invictus journey started over a year ago with the introductory weekends, followed by the selection and training camps with lots of training in between.
All of this led to the first winter Invictus Games based out of Vancouver in Canada and using Whistler for the winter sports. Team UK was the biggest of the 23 nations in the games with a contingent of 62 competitors, featuring a mix of ranks and a 50/50 split of serving and veterans with four RMs two serving, two veterans.
I think to start with, it’s worth highlighting a few considerations: you don’t have to have lost a limb to participate, in fact you don’t have to have any physical injuries, they can be mental; you don’t have to have served in Afghanistan or Iraq to participate; you don’t have to be a veteran; finally, you don’t have to be essence to participate it just helps.
Two of the Royals have brain injuries, one due to a car crash and the other one having been knocked off his bike, one has a gunshot wound from returning home to South Africa and I have PTSD and epilepsy. In this small group you can see the spread of those that participated.