Ministry of National Defence
Press release No. 326 11.11.2016
Invictus Games Toronto 2017

On the Day of the Veterans, during the military and religious ceremony organized at the Monument of the Heroes who Fell in Theaters of Operations or in Romania, in Tineretului Park, the lot of soldiers was presented, consisting of soldiers wounded in theaters of operations who were selected to participate in "Invictus Games Toronto 2017".

Of the 37 soldiers who took the challenge, after the first stage of evaluation, 27 were selected to participate in eight sports: athletics, cycling/road para-cycling, swimming, powerlifting, archery, indoor rowing, sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball. They are going to make a physical check at the National Institute for Sports Medicine, as the last stage of the selection process.

After establishing the lot, an estimation of the costs involved will be made, that include custom-made equipment, as dictated by the respective disabilities and the chosen discipline.

The funds will be ensured mainly from the defence budget, while the costs that cannot be covered from public funds will come from private funding, such as associations, foundations, private persons or companies that are willing to make donations or to sponsor the event.

The five soldiers who have underwent the circuit last year, being members of the paralaympic section of the Military Sports Club Steaua, will start training again this month.

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Invictus Games is an international sports event dedicated to soldiers who were injured/wounded during military operations at home or abroad. It covers several disciplines, adapted for people with disabilities:, , paralympic athletics and, road, sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball and rugby, golf and hockey.

Invictus Paralympic Games are conducted based on some very strict criteria. Sportsmen accepted to participate in the games have to go through rigurous certification procedures, according to the paralympic standards, concerning both the overall health condition and the compatibility of the respective disability with the intended sport and qualifying for the respective sport event. The complex certification process is conducted through the paralympic section of the Sports Club Steaua, with the support of the Romanian Paralympic Committee.

Romania has received the offcial invitation of the Government in Ottawa to participate in the 2017 edition of Invictus games, with a team of paralympic sportsmen, wounded soldiers, veterans from the theaters of operations.

Press Department