Invictus Games – Day 1 and 2 Roundup

What actually is the Invictus Games? It is an international multi-sport event for injured and sick servicemen and women. The games were first held in London in 2014 after being founded by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex.

This year the competition is being held in Düsseldorf, Germany – and 21 countries are competing. Including ,for the first time, Nigeria, Israel, and Colombia.

On the first day of competition at the Invictus Games, we saw the start to a fierce tournament of wheelchair rugby- with the first game being between USA and Australia.

USA dominated the tournament and took the title, beating the UK in the final 21-13. France and Australia battled it our for bronze, with Australia narrowly taking the medal with a score of 20-17.

But team France, despite coming 4th, still had something to celebrate as French player Jamal Ramin proposed to his girlfriend.

Meanwhile over in the athletics stadium, USA yet again led the way winning a massive haul of medals including gold in the mixed 4x100m relay.

With athletes competing in a variety of athletics events from discus to 1500m – there was a lot of celebration at the track over the two days.

However the stand-out moment is not what you expect. Instead it happened during the women’s 100m IT8 final – where British athlete Claire Gibson saw Jordanian participant, Rola, struggling behind and put on the breaks to support Rola through the race and across the line. The stadium announcer praises the act “That’s the message of the Invictus Games, it shows what these Games mean”.

The powerlifting event saw Australia put on a show in the women’s categories with a strong depth of competitors – winning 3 of the 6 medals up for grabs.

On the other hand, the 5 men’s categories were a mixed bag – with winners from multiple countries: Nigeria, Jordan, United States of America, and Poland.

It was Polands’ Liszcz Paweł that stole the spotlight, as he lifted 129.59kg, which is 38.52kg heavier than the silver medal lift.

With more events to follow, you can catch all the action on BBC iPlayer.