Prince Harry announced Wednesday Toronto will host the third annual Invictus Games in 2017.
The multi-sport event is comprised of wounded, ill, injured and veteran military service members from around the world.
The Games, scheduled for September 2017, is expected to be the largest with more than 600 competitors from 16 countries playing in 12 sports.
Prince Harry founded the Invictus Games following a visit in 2013 to the US-based Warrior Games and said the 2017 Games will offer a unique Canadian flavour.
“It will even involve competing on ice, because this is Canada after all,” he said in a video released Wednesday.
“It’s also the year when Canada will commemorate its 150th anniversary of Confederation. I cannot think of a better way to mark this milestone than by paying tribute to the soldiers and veterans who have served their country so bravely and to support them along their journey to recovery.”
Prince Harry is expected to visit Toronto in May to officially launch the 2017 Invictus Games.
“The City of Toronto is looking forward to welcoming the Invictus Games in 2017. Sport has the unique power to change lives,” Mayor John Tory said in a statement.
“The service men and women who participate in these Games deserve to be honoured and Toronto is proud to be the stage on which they will stand as they step into the world spotlight.”
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne also applauded the choice as Toronto recently hosted the Pan Am/Parapan Am Games last summer.
The 2016 Invictus Games is being held in Orlando, Florida from May 8 to 12.
Comments